John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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372. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of staff in CDNTs in County Offaly, in tabular form; and the percentage of full-time posts filled for occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech-and-language therapists within each respective unit. [10485/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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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.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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373. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will provide assurances that her Department’s exclusion of the only disabled persons’ representative organisations (DPRO) specific to visual and physical impairment, respectively (details supplied), will not be reflected in its advice on DPRO participation to other public bodies; and if she will provide a timeline on when both of these key DPROs will no longer be excluded from their rights as equal DPROs by her Department. [10505/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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375. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she has any concerns over the credibility of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy due to the exclusion of an organisation (details supplied), from the DPO Consultative Framework, these are the only disabled persons’ representative organisations specifically representing the key constituencies of visual impairment and physical impairment. [10507/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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376. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she will explain to the UN Committee why the only disabled persons’ representative organisations specifically representing visual impairment and physical impairment (details supplied), have been excluded from the DPO Consultative Framework since its inception in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10508/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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377. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if she considers the exclusion of two organisations (details supplied), the only disabled persons’ representative organisations specifically representing visual and physical impairments, from her Department’s disabled persons’ representative organisations-specific consultations to be case of indirect discrimination; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10509/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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378. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth how the ongoing exclusion by her Department of the only specialised disabled persons’ representative organisations in visual impairment and physical impairment, respectively (details supplied), is compatible with her Department’s obligations under Article 29 (b (ii)) of the UNCRPD to incentivise disabled people to join DPROs and to create conditions favourable to the flourishing of DPROs; and if those DPROs specific to such major constituencies are not at the table, what is the guarantee that they will be consulted about the measures to strengthen DPROs going forward. [10510/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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379. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the disabled persons’ organisations/disabled persons’ representative organisations her Department is currently closely consulting with on strengthening DPOs/DPROs meet the criteria for being DPROs considering General Comment No. 7, paras. 10-4; and if she acknowledges that failure to ensure that her Department is dealing with genuine DPROs in such sensitive dealings would mean that such consultations are not fit for purpose and even counterproductive. [10511/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 373, 375, 376, 377, 378 and 379 together.

I thank the Deputy for these questions and propose to take 10505 as well as 10507-10511 inclusive, together.

Government is committed to implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as ratified by Ireland in 2018. This includes commitment to Article 4(3) which stipulates that State Parties shall closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities through their representative organisations in policy making and implementation. It also encompasses a commitment to Article 29 which “guarantees to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others” and obliges States to “promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including:

(i) Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties;

(ii) Forming and joining organizations of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at international, national, regional and local levels.

Government is also committed to the implementation of Article 33(3) mandating that: “Civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, shall be involved and participate fully in the monitoring process.”

In 2018, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted General Comment No. 7, in order to provide State Parties with guidance on how to implement Article 4(3). Unlike the Convention itself, General Comments are not binding on States Parties, but offer interpretation on particular Articles to support State Parties in their implementation of same. General Comment 7 defines Disabled Persons' Organisations (or Disabled Persons' Representative Organisations) as, in summary, civil society organisations of persons with disabilities that are led, directed and governed by persons with disabilities. The organisation should be rooted in, committed to and fully respect the principles and rights recognised in the UNCRPD.

As DPOs are not public bodies but are independent non-state organisations, neither my Department nor the state more broadly plays a role in defining what constitutes a "genuine" DPO. The text of the Convention itself provides guidance on what is and is not a DPO. Neither does the state have a role in setting membership criteria for independent civil society organisations, or dictating the manner in which such organisations can and do function, beyond accountability for any public money such organisations may or may not receive or the role of the Charities Regulator. To interfere in independent non-state actors in such a way would be wholly inappropriate and be contrary to the spirit of the Convention.

The state instead seeks to foster a healthy and participative independent civil society sector, including in particular DPOs where disability issues arise.

I reject entirely the suggestion that any individual or group, DPO or otherwise, impairment based or otherwise, has been excluded from the design and development of the next National Disability Strategy. My Department undertook an extensive national formal consultation process which was a genuinely and categorically participative process open to all individuals and groups. Both of the organisations referenced by the Deputy were directly invited to, and did, actively participate in that process on a number of occasions.

The two organisations indicated by the Deputy were included in this consultation process as a matter of course. Both organisations were invited to several town hall events, with open access to more than 30 focus groups led by the National Disability Authority and both received an invitation to participate in a national survey. Both were invited to a key stakeholder event in the summer of last year on the development of the Strategy. Both participated in early scoping engagements in the summer and Autumn of 2022 on development of the strategy and the setting of priorities. The two organisations in question were also engaged at a trilateral meeting with the Department in December 2023 and, where appropriate to their various memberships on representative groups, have been engaged as part of broader consultation with, for example, the Disability Stakeholder Group and the Disability Participation and Consultation Network, during the period when those Groups were in situ. In addition to this, any submissions received by my Department in relation to the Strategy from these organisations have been duly considered on an equal basis to any and all submissions received from DPOs.

In relation to my Department's engagement with umbrella groups of DPOs, I understand that the particular organisations referenced by the Deputy were members of a previous configuration of a DPO umbrella grouping representing a number of the more established DPOs in the state. The membership of that group chose itself, and with no involvement from the state, to disband and reform independent of the organisations referenced by the Deputy. This was and is a matter for the decision making processes of the groups involved.

Currently under consideration by my Department is the development of robust and comprehensive structures that will provide for effective disability stakeholders’ input and engagement under the National Disability Strategy, in line with obligations under Article 4(3), Article 29(b) and Article 33(3) of the UNCRPD. Consultation on these structures will include seeking the perspectives of all key stakeholders as a matter of course.