Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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56. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when she will ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12445/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government has made a commitment in its Programme for a Partnership Government to address a range of legislative barriers with a view to putting the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities before the Oireachtas before the end of 2016. On 21 October 2015, the previous Government published a roadmap for Ireland’s ratification of the Convention which outlines the considerable legislative changes needing to be undertaken, along with the estimated deadline of end-2016 for ratification. We are on track to ratify the Convention by end-2016.

Considerable progress has already been made to overcome barriers to Ireland’s ratification. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 was signed into law on 30 December 2015 and is a comprehensive reform of the law on decision-making capacity. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 was passed by the Seanad on 26 January this year. When enacted, the Bill will reform Section 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 to facilitate the full participation in family life of persons with intellectual disabilities and the full expression of their human rights. Achieving the necessary balance between those rights and ensuring appropriate protection is crucial.

Work is also under way on the Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to progress the remaining miscellaneous legislative amendments necessary for ratification. It is intended that the Bill will address issues such as the Convention's requirements in relation to reasonable accommodation and deprivation of liberty, as well as removing archaic and outmoded language in existing legislation. I intend to publish the General Scheme of the Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill shortly.