Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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144. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to establish a working party to investigate the needs of persons living with Huntington’s disease and their families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15203/22]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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In the context of existing work addressing the needs of people with disabilities in a coordinated and comprehensive fashion, there are no plans to establish a specific working group related to Huntington’s disease.

Ireland currently has two whole-of-government strategies in place, the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS), now extended until the end of 2022, and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES), 2015-2024. I chair the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group and the Comprehensive Employment Strategy Implementation Group is independently chaired by Fergus Finlay. Both strategies are aimed at supporting all people with disabilities in Ireland in all aspects of their lives, and this includes people with Huntington’s Disease.

Various working groups have been established under the NDIS and the CES to address cross-disability issues related to transport and personal mobility supports, assistive technology, and establishing seamless inter-departmental supports for people with disabilities who want to work, remain in work, or return to work. Both strategies are also progressed in close consultation and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, in particular the Disability Stakeholder Group which encompasses disability experts include experts by experience, representatives of disability organisations and disabled persons organisations (DPOs).