Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is a commitment in the Programme for Government, and I remain committed to ratification at the earliest possible date.

Ireland ratified the UNCRPD on 20 March 2018 and continues to implement the Convention on the basis of the continuous advancement of rights. Ireland has also engaged fully in the monitoring and accountability processes set out in the Convention, having submitted its first state report to the Committee in November of 2021 and we now await a review date before the Committee in Geneva. Ireland has also placed IHREC's role as the national independent monitoring body for the UNCRPD on a statutory basis.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Optional Protocol is an optional and additional international treaty that establishes additional procedures aimed at enhancing the implementation of UNCRPD rights. A scoping exercise on ratification is well advanced to ensure that the implications arising in respect of meeting the obligations under the Optional Protocol are identified.

While careful consideration is being given to the broader cost implications of ratification in the longer term, which may be difficult to quantify given the breadth and depth on the UNCRPD itself, it is my current understanding that there are no substantive direct costs expected to be incurred in terms of the act of ratification itself.

My Department has established an Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) to ensure that a comprehensive, whole-of-Government approach is taken to ensuring that the necessary enabling work to provide for the ratification of the Optional Protocol is completed, and so that ratification can proceed as quickly as possible.

There is a long-standing position of the state in relation to honouring international agreements. As a matter of foreign policy, Ireland does not enter into binding international treaties until we are confident that the obligations set out can be complied with. As such, the ongoing scoping exercise is procedurally necessary.

I intend to provide an update to my cabinet colleagues on the progress of the IDG and it's work on ratification of the Optional Protocol later in the year.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on 20 March 2018. This marked an important milestone in a process to strengthen the rights of people with disabilities in Ireland that has gathered momentum since Ireland became a signatory to the Convention in 2007. Ireland’s approach to meeting the obligations of the UNCRPD is one of continuous advancement, each year moving forward on key reforms, with the obligations arising from the Convention being ever-strengthened over time.

As such, the process of fully implementing and realising the UNCRPD is one without a defined end, and one which, in alignment with the Convention, State Parties must strive toward in the spirit of ongoing improvement. In line with the UNCRPD, Ireland takes a "mainstream-first" approach to the provision of disability services. This means that services for disabled people should be delivered in the first instance on the basis of mainstream inclusion, as opposed to separate or segregated provision.

As such, it is incumbent upon all public bodies to execute all of their functions in a manner that aligns with the UNCRPD and advances its implementation. In this way, given the breadth and depth of the UNCRPD's scope and is impact across public policy, and the fact that the UNCRPD articulates models of behaviour as much as concrete and definitive end points, it is not possible to quantify the cost of its full implementation.

In order to provide a framework in which strategic direction and budgetary commitments on disability issues can be better coordinated across government, my Department is committed to the delivery in 2024 of Ireland’s next National Disability Strategy. This is in fulfilment of a Programme for Government commitment to develop an implementation plan to advance the delivery of Ireland’s commitments under the Convention. The next National Disability Strategy will take a whole-of-government approach to advancement of the UNCRPD and provide a framework for further and ongoing action to implement the rights set out in the CRPD.