UN disability convention ratification
Deputy Nolan condemned the delay in ratifying the UN disability convention and blamed slow progress on the enabling legislation. The Taoiseach said ratification should follow the necessary law and procedure.
Ba mhaith lion ceist a chur faoin UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was signed by the State in 2007. More than 150 states have now ratified the convention. That this State has not done so is nothing short of a national disgrace. The primary purpose of the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 is to provide for ratification of the UN convention. There is a concern that the Department of Justice and Equality is dragging its heels and unnecessarily delaying the process by failing to bring forward amendments for Committee Stage.
This is an issue of basic and fundamental rights. Joanne O'Riordan, who champions the rights of disabled citizens, summed up their desire as follows:
I want to be a contributor and ... to be treated like a full equal member of my community ... I will not allow this Government or any other people to treat me like a second class citizen.
Ms O'Riordan is correct. It is evident that the Government has failed her and many more disabled citizens. While I understand the need to put in place the necessary legislation to facilitate full compliance with the UN convention, this process has been going on for ten years. When will the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 be passed and when can we expect the State to ratify the UN convention?
Comment on this
The Deputy makes the point that this is a matter of rights. While it is a matter of rights, it is also a matter of procedures and follow through. We could have ratified the convention without being able to fulfil what it means. In this country, we have always taken the view that we deal with the legislation, put it through and implement it and then ratify conventions so that we can stand over them and say we ratified a convention because the necessary legislation was in place.
I have answered questions in the House about this issue for a number of years. A suite of legislation had to be passed. Believe me, the Minister of State, Deputy McGrath, has raised this matter at Cabinet on a number of occasions and we are coming close to reaching a conclusion. That is the story. I will have the Minister of State respond to the House on this matter. It is not a case of dragging heels but getting the legislation through properly - the last piece of it is quite sensitive - and then ratifying the UN convention in order that we can stand over it.