Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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329. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on the publication date of her Department's Disability Strategy. [26437/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Publication of the next National Disability Strategy is a key priority for me as Minister and for the Government more broadly, and I expect it to be finalised and published in early course this year.

The development of the next National Disability Strategy is a Programme for Government commitment and will be a milestone achievement, representing a step-change in how we deliver disability policy in Ireland. It will be Ireland's first National Disability Strategy to be published since we ratified the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2018 and will be explicitly framed as an implementation plan for Ireland's advancement of its obligations under the Convention.

A robust and extensive consultation process launched in late 2023 included 34 focus groups, 18 interviews, more than 80 written submissions, 484 submissions to a national survey and 5 town hall events. Feedback from consultation has coalesced around a range of thematic pillars that, collectively, will capture the spectrum of issues affecting the day-to-day lives of disabled people:

• Inclusive learning and education
• Employment
• Independent living and active participation in society
• Wellbeing and health
• Transport and mobility