Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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322. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on providing fully accessible changing places and toilet facilities open to the public in all buildings which her Department owns and public bodies and agencies under her remit to offer people with disabilities and carers a network of equipped spaces to take care of personal hygiene, in safety and comfort. [38715/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department welcomes persons with a disability and carers visiting its campuses. The existing fully accessible toilet facilities are available for use if necessary.

I am aware that fully accessible changing areas and toilet facilities provide more space and appropriate equipment for persons who require the assistance of a carer to undertake their personal hygiene, in safety and comfort. The Deputy will be aware that the National Disability Authority (NDA) and the Office of Public Works (OPW) are working closely on the operational review of the effectiveness of Section 25 of the Disability Act 2005 which focuses on the accessibility of public buildings.

My Department will continue to work with the Office of Public Works (OPW) on upgrading any of our existing facilities, where appropriate, to support persons with a disability.

The information in respect of state bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document should the Deputy wish to contact them directly with this query.

Contact E-Mail Addresses for State Bodies under the Remit of the Department of Education as at 29^thMarch 2022

Note 1 - The spelling of the NCCA e-mail address to which Oireachtas queries may be addressed has been verified with the NCCA as being accurate.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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323. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way that her Department and public bodies and agencies under her remit are implementing action 32 of the National Disability and Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (details supplied). [38733/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is implementing Action 32 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy through its Disability Consultative Committee (DCC), established under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021 (NDIS). Membership of the Committee includes four representatives from the Disability Stakeholders’ Group, representation from the National Disability Authority, the National Council for Special Education as well as broad representation from across the Department including the Inspectorate.

Officials from my Department actively engage with our DCC stakeholder members both in the context of the DCC meetings but also outside of these as issues arise. At the start of each year, in consultation with our stakeholders the dates of the quarterly DCC meetings are agreed and fixed. In the planning of departmental DCC meetings, stakeholders are invited to submit topics of interest for in-depth discussion with relevant officials from aegis bodies and the Department. Over the last year, in-depth discussions have taken place on Teacher Education, ICT in schools and guidance in education from the perspective of persons with a disability.

The next DCC meeting will include a thematic focus on school buildings and the consideration of universal design principles in both new builds and retrofits. The meeting will include representatives of the Planning and Building Unit of the Department. Disability stakeholders have been invited to submit questions and topics for discussion under this theme, in advance of the meeting.

Finally, my Department is developing new guidance for engagement with stakeholders, including people with disabilities. In this regard, it has engaged with the NDA and will have regard to the new NDA guidance on consultation with people with disabilities, published last month, which has been circulated across the Department.