Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the action she is taking to implement the optional protocol of the UNCRPD. [50142/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for their question regarding the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD.

On 30 November 2024, Ireland ratified the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Optional Protocol supplements the Convention by establishing additional procedures aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Convention. In this regard it establishes the competence of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a body of independent experts, to:

• receive and examine communications from or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of the rights recognised and protected by the Convention
• undertake inquiries in cases where they receive reliable evidence of grave or systemic violations of the Convention.

• Increases in funding for disability services, including €3.2bn in Budget 2025 for HSE Disability Services;
• Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD;
• Publication of the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026;
• Publication of the Autism Innovation Strategy.
• The commencement in 2023 of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (as amended), which establishes a modern legal framework to support decision-making by adults who may have difficulty making decisions without help;
• The introduction of key programmes like the Work and Access Scheme to support disabled people in accessing employment; and
• Publication of the Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027.

• Inclusive learning and education
• Employment
• Independent Living and Active Participation in Society
• Wellbeing and Health
• Transport and Mobility