Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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503. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he has plans for the State to recognise and adopt the European Union disability card once this has been introduced by the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8316/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The European Commission has announced its intention to introduce a legislative proposal to create an EU Disability Card that will be recognised in all Member States. Development of the proposal is currently in its early stages at EU level. The Commission conducted a call for evidence to inform an impact assessment in late 2022. A public consultation also recently opened.

The Commission hopes to present its proposal by Q4 2023. The proposal will then be subject to negotiations between Member States in the Council and the European Parliament.

Given that development of the EU Disability Card is still in its initial stages, it is not yet clear what services will be included within the scope of the card, and as a result the specific roles of lead Departments is presently uncertain.

A pilot programme carried out in some Member States to inform the proposal focused on the areas of culture, leisure, sport and transport.

Ireland is broadly supportive of the objective of the proposal and looks forward to participating actively in negotiations at EU level on the EU Disability Card going forward.