Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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255. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has produced a new statement of strategy since May 2016; and if so, the measures in it to support persons with disabilities. [33635/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The development of a three-year Statement of Strategy is a requirement of every Government Department under the Public Service Management Act, 1997. Under this legislation, a new Statement of Strategy must be submitted to a Minister within six months of their appointment.

The process to develop a new Statement of Strategy 2016-2019 for my Department is very substantially advanced and I have approved a draft Statement, which was submitted to the Taoiseach at the end of October in line with the guidance issued by the Department of the Taoiseach during the Summer.  Once feedback has been received from the Department of the Taoiseach, the Statement of Strategy will be submitted to Government, translated into Irish and published.  

The production of the Statement of Strategy has, of course, been informed by the priorities set out in the Programme for a Partnership Government (PfPG), the overall economic, budgetary and fiscal context as well as submissions received from other Departments and civil society. I can confirm that while the nature and length of the Statement of Strategy is such that it is not possible to reflect each of these submissions in detail, it does reflect, at a high-level, the Public Sector Duty obligation imposed by Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014 to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of the Department's employees and everyone affected by its functions and services.