Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach to detail the preparations being undertaken by his Department in advance of the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882); and the guidance that is being issued by his Department to organisations and businesses in advance of the enactment of the directive. [39676/23]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is currently coordinating transposition of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) via Statutory Instrument under the European Communities Act 1972.

The EAA will introduce mandatory minimum accessibility requirements for a range of commonly used consumer products and services across various sectors, including digital products and services, transport, ecommerce, consumer banking, electronic communications and audio-visual media services.

The main responsibility for compliance with the EAA is likely to fall on economic operators dealing in products or services within the scope of the Directive with various regulatory authorities responsible for market surveillance and compliance checking of relevant products and services.

While my Department is not directly involved in the provision or regulation of services, it will continue to engage with the cross-government approach led by Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.