Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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18. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to enable stakeholder consultation to Ireland’s first report to the UN under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28735/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department is designated as Ireland’s Focal Point and Coordination Mechanism under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and is responsible for the drafting of Ireland’s Initial State report on the implementation of the Convention. Drafting of the State Report is ongoing.

On the 3 December 2020, I published a draft version of the Initial State report for a period of public consultation. The public consultation stage closed on the 9 April 2021.

The public consultation process involved a number of strands. Stakeholders were invited to make written submissions to my Department. Seventy submissions have been received in this regard.

In addition, my Department ran three days of online public stakeholder consultation events in March and April. The recently established Disability Participation and Consultation Network, which involves a wide range of disability stakeholders, has carried out its own consultation process and has submitted it to the Department. Finally, my Department is consulting with children and young people on UNCRPD.

I believe that we have benefited considerably from the important process of stakeholder consultation, and that the final version of the State Report will be able to reflect the views and experiences offered so fully by participants. I intend to bring the State Report to Government for approval in the normal way, in advance of formally submitting it to the Committee later this year.