Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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637. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for a list of disabled persons organisations recognised by his Department; how his Department designates a disabled persons organisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35369/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister of State with Responsibility for Disability, I greatly value the role played by Disabled Persons Organisations (DPO) in representing the lived/living experience of people with disabilities in Ireland. This is crucial to the development, implementation and monitoring of law, policy and human rights in Ireland. DPOs are explicitly recognised in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) through Articles 4(3), 33(3), and General Comment No.7.

In response to the Deputy's question, there is no formal single list of DPOs in place in Ireland at present. My Department engages with a range of stakeholders and uses the language of the Convention itself as the basis for those engagements. This includes DPOs in particular but also other important voices such as individuals with disabilities, experts by experience, and other kinds of disability organisations.

My Department will continue to engage closely with DPOs through a number of important coordination mechanisms including the Disability Stakeholders Group (DSG) and the Disability Participation and Consultation Network (DPCN). The DPCN in particular has a specific DPO pillar which my Department has funded since its establishment in 2020.

In order to continue progress in this area I have asked that the DPCN model be evaluated by the National Disability Authority (NDA) with a view to identifying any possible improvements to the model.