Written answer
Disability Issues
The Minister said targeted Assessment of Need reforms are progressing separately because improvements cannot wait for the wider Disability Act review; the Bill does not alter eligibility or the six-month deadline. Consultation and research will inform the comprehensive review and any further legislative proposals, but no specific additional amendments were confirmed.
391. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to confirm that further amendments to the Assessment of Need provisions (currently contained in the Disability (Amendment) Bill 2025 will be considered following the outcome of the current consultation on the review of the Disability Act 2025. [75117/26]
Comment on this
392. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason the Disability (Amendment) bill 2025 is continuing its passage through the Oireachtas given that a review of the parent act, the Disability Act 2005, is currently underway. [75116/26]
Comment on this
I propose to take Questions Nos. 391 and 392 together.
The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 commits to a broad legislative programme that recognises the need to review and update existing disability legislation, and to consider where a need for new legislation may exist, particularly following Ireland’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Programme for Government also commits to reform of the Disability Act 2005 in consultation with stakeholders. The Department's review of the Disability Act is in line with these commitments.
The Disability Act is a wide-ranging piece of legislation that relates to the definition of disability, the Assessment of Need process, accessible public buildings, universal design, the use of genetic data, public sector employment and more.
However, improvements to the Assessment of Need process are required as soon as possible; this cannot wait for the review of the Act as a whole. Accordingly, the Disability (Amendment) Bill 2026 is now progressing through the Oireachtas. The Bill makes specific and targeted changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005 which sets out the Assessment of Need process. These targeted changes aim to make the Assessment of Need process more efficient and effective for children and their families.
This legislative reform does not change who can apply for an assessment of need or the 6-month statutory timeline for the completion of assessments. However, the Bill introduces a number of changes to the Assessment of Need process including the introduction of statutory guidelines to standardise the delivery of assessments of need by HSE assessment officers, and new provisions for the withdrawal, closure and reinstatement of applications providing flexibility for applicants who may wish to step back from the process for a time.
The full review of the Disability Act is comprehensive in scope and will include a detailed consideration of all parts of the 2005 Act, in addition to other reforms that may be needed to advance the implementation of relevant UNCRPD obligations. As stated in the Strategy, the review will examine and update the statutory underpinning for whole-of-Government action on disability. It will also include consideration of the Programme for Government commitment to place an autism strategy on a legislative footing.
To inform this review, a public consultation process was launched on 8 June 2026. The first stage of the consultation process was an invitation for submissions in writing and other formats on the operation the Disability Act and potential reforms to enhance Ireland’s compliance with the UNCRPD. The call for submissions ran for a period of four months and closed on 9 October. Following the closure of the first stage of the consultation process, the Department is preparing to carry out a range of online and in-person consultation events for stage two of the consultation process.
The outputs of these two stages of the consultation will be analysed in a consultation report which will be published in due course upon completion. To complement the public consultation process, the National Disability Authority is conducting research into good practices internationally in incorporating relevant UNCRPD obligations into domestic legislation.
The consultation and research outlined above represent the first substantive steps in the wider review and reform of the Disability Act. Further consultation and research are expected to be carried out in the development of legislative proposals over the course of the review.