Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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147. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when the role of the new National Disability Authority will be reviewed as outlined in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20734/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Partnership Government contains a commitment to review the role of the National Disability Authority. This is a good opportunity to review the role and functions of the National Disability Authority and to consider whether changes are appropriate in the context of the changes in Irish society and the position of people with disabilities since its establishment in 1999. I am committed to ensuring that the review process will be open, objective and consultative and will be undertaken with participation by all relevant stakeholders, including the Authority board and staff interests.

As the Deputy will be aware, we are in the process of finalising a new National Disability Inclusion Strategy and I believe that it is appropriate that the review be undertaken in the context of the new Strategy's priorities. As the new Strategy will be in place before the end of this year, I anticipate that we will be able to commence the review of the Authority - with the first step being to scope out terms of reference - at end 2016 or in early 2017.

Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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148. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be ratified by the end of 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20735/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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On 21 October 2015, the previous Government published a roadmap to Ireland’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which outlines the considerable legislative changes to be undertaken to enable Ireland to ratify the Convention, along with the estimated deadline of end-2016 for ratification. The Roadmap to Ratification, which is available on my Department’s website, sets out the substantial legislative agenda required for ratification. We are on track to ratify the Convention within 6 months.

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 underway on drawing up an Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill to progress miscellaneous legislative amendments necessary to proceed to 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 references in existing legislation relating to mental health. The General Scheme of the Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill was submitted to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality on 20 June 2016 as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process.