Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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264. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit are implementing Action 16 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38475/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department has a dedicated ICT Unit which maintains, provides and troubleshoots day to day ICT services to a high standard for staff of the Department and to the public through its online services and the Department's website.

It is responsible for the development, implementation and ongoing management of the Department's ICT strategy and infrastructure and has overall responsibility for managing ICT functions, technical, human and financial.

The DCEDIY website is housed on the central Gov.ie portal. It is designed in accordance with universal design principles and any uploaded content must satisfy accessibility standards. There is a commitment to Gov.ie achieving a minimum of conformance with level Double-A with the Web Accessibility Initiative, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and to complying with the Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information Provided by Public Bodies. There is also a commitment under the NDIS to design public sector websites in accordance with universal design principles and in line with Ireland’s obligations under the WAD.

In addition, as part of its overall approach to ensuring equality of opportunity and addressing potential disability inequalities, the Department has a Disability Access Officer in place.

My Department has requested that the agencies under its remit respond to the deputy directly on this question.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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265. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the way his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit are implementing Action 32 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38504/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Disability Policy Unit of my Department co-ordinates the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth's Departmental Consultative Committee (DCC). The DCC meets quarterly and in advance of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS) Steering Group, which is chaired by my colleague Anne Rabbitte T.D., Minister of State for Disability. The DCC membership includes departmental officials across a range of policy areas, representatives from the National Disability Authority (NDA) and members of the Disability Stakeholder Group who represent people with lived experience of disability and disability organisations. The DCC provides a forum to discuss the actions in the NDIS that are relevant to my Department. Members of the DCC can also suggest other agenda items as required. The terms of reference allow for the inclusion of a wider membership and this will be kept under review.

The UNCRPD requires State parties to actively involve people with disabilities in policy development (Article 4.3). It is important that the experiences and perspectives of people with disabilities are integrated into the development of policies and programmes so that they meet their needs effectively.

My Department has funded the development of a Disability Participation and Consultation Network to build capacity within the disability community so that people with disabilities and their representative organisations can participate fully.The Network was formed in late 2020 and its first task was to bring the voices of people with disabilities into consultations on Ireland’s first State Report to the UN on our progress in implementing the Convention.

The Network is now engaging in a piece of facilitated work, funded by the Department, which will aid it to put in place the working structures and practices that will allow it to carry out its role effectively.