Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1298. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in line with Action 96 of the Autism Committee’s Final Report (details supplied) if he has plans to increase resources for the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design to allow for the centre to reach its full potential in assisting the State to embed the principles of universal design. [57335/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, I would like to commend the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism on its final report, published in June 2023, which contains detailed recommendations for action right across Government to better meet the needs of autistic people and their families. This is a shared objective for me as Minister of State.

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) is a part of the NDA and came into being in January 2007 following the enactment of the Disability Act 2005. The CEUD is the only statutory centre for universal design in the world. Through the activities of the (CEUD), the NDA promote the awareness and adoption of Universal Design of physical and digital environments so they can be accessed, understood and used by all, regardless of age, size, ability or disability.

My Department provides funding to the NDA to deliver on its statutory duty as the independent state agency to provide information and evidence informed advice to me, my ministerial colleagues, to government departments, and to public bodies.

Since coming under the aegis of my Department there has been a yearly increase in the resourcing provided to the NDA. In 2023, a budget allocation of €5.788m in current funding was provided to the NDA. In 2024 this was increased to €6.03m.

I am satisfied that this is sufficient to meet the resourcing needs of the vital work conducted by the Authority for the year ahead and my officials engage regularly with the NDA on its work programme, including in relation to Universal Design.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1299. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in line with Action 97 of the Autism Committee’s Final Report (details supplied) if he has plans to provide capacity to the National Disability Authority to review the accessibility of information on the websites of Government departments and on application forms and support departments in changing or updating information; and the estimated cost of implementing this proposal. [57336/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The principle of accessibility is set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which Ireland ratified in March 2018. Article 9 of the UNCRPD requires signatories to take measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to information and communications, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public.

The EU Web Accessibility Directive, which has been in force since 23 September 2020, requires all websites and applications of public sector bodies to meet specific accessibility standards. The Directive requires regular monitoring of public sector websites and applications by Member States as well as reporting on the results.

The NDA is required under the Directive’s Implementing Decision 2018/1524 to provide monitoring data in a national report to the European Commission every three years. This takes the form of the 'Monitoring Report for the EU Web Accessibility Directive'.

The NDA provide data gathered as part of the report to the relevant Departments and other public bodies. This in turn enables the public body to direct resources to address priority issues and to continuously measure issues and the accessibility of improvements.

The NDA completed Ireland’s most recent monitoring report under the Directive in December 2022. This indicated that improvements in accessibility are consistently being made, but significant efforts are still required across the public sector to improve the accessibility of websites and mobile applications. Its next monitoring report is due in December 2024.

The NDA also provides guidance on their website to aid public sector bodies in making websites and forms accessible. This includes the Accessibility Toolkit which helps to make services, buildings, information, and websites more accessible to customers with disabilities.

In 2023, current funding of €5.788 was provided to the NDA. In 2024 current funding was increased to €6.03m, recognising the increased demands on the Authority's functions, including its monitoring role.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1300. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what arrangements he intends putting in place to ensure transport is provided to wheelchair bound rural patients, living in areas where there is an inadequate or no wheelchair compatible public transport services available, to travel to hospital appointments that are in some cases up to 100 km away; whether in such cases the health service is willing to provide taxi transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1221/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Government decided to close the Motorised Transport Grant and Mobility Allowance administrative schemes in 2013, on foot of the Ombudsman reports in 2011 and 2012 regarding the legal status of both schemes in the context of the Equal Status Acts. Both schemes remain closed.

Under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017-2022, the Action 104 Transport Working Group was established in 2020 to make progress on an important cross-Government action to review transport and mobility supports for people with disabilities and to advance proposals for the enhancement of these supports going forward.

As Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, I chaired meetings of the Transport Working Group from January 2022 up to its conclusion in December 2022. The Group's work has now concluded and the final report was published in February 2023. The Report sets out the contributions made by members for the enhancement of transport and mobility supports for people with disabilities.

Access to transport for people with disabilities is a multifaceted issue that involves work carried out by multiple Government departments and agencies. It is incumbent on all Ministers, Departments and Agencies with responsibility for transport and mobility schemes for people with disabilities to consider the recommendations of the Transport Working Group, as I will be giving due consideration to the recommendations in the context of the schemes outlined above. These considerations will continue in the context of the development of a new National Disability Strategy.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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1301. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of WTE consultant child psychiatrist for intellectual disability services in County Mayo in 2022 and 2023, in tabular form. [1828/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. The Deputy will be aware that due to the ongoing industrial action by Fórsa administrative and management grade staff in the HSE (which commenced on 6 October, 2023), delays remain in receiving answers to parliamentary questions and ministerial representations.