merrion street

Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Ms. Anne Rabbitte TD, today announced that stakeholder consultation sessions on Ireland’s Initial State report under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) will take place online on the 26th of March, 30th of March and 1st of April 2021.

The sessions, which are being run by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, are open to individuals and organisations. There will be a limited number of places available in each online session. Registration for the events will open on the 19th of March at 2pm and will be on a first come, first served basis. Registration details are provided below.

In view of the limited space at the events, organisations planning to attend are asked to register a maximum of two people for each session.

Minister Rabbitte said: “I am delighted to announce details for these stakeholder consultations over the coming weeks. At these sessions, members of the public, in particular those affected by the issues covered in the report, will have the opportunity to express their views and what is Ireland’s first Report under this Convention.

“Since we ratified the Convention in 2018, it has given us an important framework for our work in advancing the rights of people with disabilities and creating an environment in which they are enabled to participate fully. Participation is a fundamental principle of the Convention. I am committed to ensuring that people are heard and that their views are reflected in Ireland’s presentation to the United Nations.

“The sessions will be thematic and will cover a range of issues ranging from living independently to employment and transport. I’m sure people will have a wide range of views to offer and I encourage anyone who wishes to participate in one of these sessions to register.

“These consultation sessions are taking place along with the consultations being run by the Disability Participation and Consultation Network, which was established last year with funding from my Department. We will also run a separate process to ensure that children’s views are considered in the report, “concluded Minister Rabbitte.

-ENDS-

Notes for Editors:

• Ireland’s Initial State Report under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was published in draft form (available here) for consultation on the 3rd of December 2020 and submissions can be made until the 9th of April 2021.
• The Initial State Report gives detailed information on how Ireland is implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• Following the consultation process, the report will be finalised and submitted to the United Nations.

Event Details

The consultation events will take place on a thematic basis with different topics from the Initial State Report considered during each session. The schedule of events is below:

For each Workshop attendees will be split into small groups in breakout rooms. In these breakout rooms an independent facilitator will guide discussions on the topics and make sure that participants have their opportunity to provide feedback on the State Report.

After registering participants will be asked to familiarise themselves with the contents of the Draft State report.

Copies of the Draft State Report can be found here

Copies of the UNCRPD can be found here

Registration Details:

Pre-registration for these events is required. Pre-registration for the events will open on the 19th March at 2pm. Click here to pre-register (the link will not allow pre-registration until Friday at 2pm).

Following pre-registration, on the day before the event, participants will be provided an access to join the online sessions.

Please note:

• Availability will be on a first come first served basis and the maximum number of participants at each event will be limited.
• In view of the limited space at the events, organisations planning to attend are asked to register a maximum of two people for each session.
• You will be asked to provide your name and your email address.
• You will be asked to choose which of the sessions you would like to attend and which workshops on that day you would like to take part in (everyone will take part in the first Workshop of each day).
• You will be asked if you will be availing of ISL Translation (this is to make sure that any breakout discussions you take part in will have ISL Translation in them).
• ISL and closed captioning will be provided. Please email UNCRPDconsultations@conferencepartners.com if you have any accessibility requirements you would like to tell us about.
• There will be technical support on the day of the events to help with any queries or issues that you have.

Additional Information:

• The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the UN in 2006. Ireland signed the Convention in 2007 and ratified it in 2018.
• Ireland is due to submit its Initial State Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• The draft Report which is the subject of these consultation sessions was published for consultation by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on 3 December 2020. Written submissions may be made to disability_policy@equality.ie until 9 April 2021.
• The report has been prepared by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which is responsible for co-ordinating disability policy across government, and acts as Ireland’s National Focal Point for the Convention. In preparing the draft report, the Department consulted with other government departments and agencies.
• A new Disability Participation and Consultation Network was established by the Department in 2020 to provide a mechanism for people with disabilities and their representative groups to have input into the formation of policy and legislation in Ireland. A first task for the Network is to carry out consultation on the Initial State report. Inclusion Ireland is leading the development of the Network, in partnership with AsIAm, the Coalition of Disabled Person’s Organisations, Disability Federation Ireland, and Mental Health Reform.
• In addition to the submission of the Initial State Report, the preparation and submission of what are known as ‘alternative State reports’ (or ‘Shadow Reports’) to the CRPD is an important part of the reporting process and Civil Society organisations will prepare and submit their own reports to the Committee in this regard.