Consultation on the Draft Initial State Report under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Published on: 3 December 2020
- Open for submissions from: 3 December 2020
- Submissions closed: 9 April 2021
- Last updated on: 21 April 2021
Consultation is closed
The Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Ms. Anne Rabbitte T.D. has published the Draft Initial State Report under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for consultation.
To see Minister’s press release on the occasion of publication please click here.
A three month long consultation process period is now open.
Consultation will take place in a number of ways.
- Firstly, written submissions on the State Report are invited from interested parties and can be submitted to the Department at the following email address: disability_policy@equality.gov.ie
- In addition, in February 2021, the Department will undertake a number of consultation events with stakeholder groups. These will most likely be online events as a result of public health measures and more details will follow in the New Year.
- Following the establishment of the Disability Participation and Consultation Network, that group has been tasked with carrying out consultation with people with disabilities and their representative bodies, to ensure that the State report captures this most important group of stakeholder voices.
- In addition, should you wish to make a submission in any other format, every effort will be made to facilitate these, you can contact disability_policy@equality.gov.ie
The closing date for written submissions has been extended until the 09 April 2021.
Consultation Events
Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Ms. Anne Rabbitte T.D. has 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.
Registration for these events will open on the 19th of March 2021 at 14.00 and places are limited to 100 people per session.
- For the Press Release please click here.
- Details of Registration are set out below.
The consultation events will take place on a thematic basis with different topics from the Initial State Report considered during each session. Each session will be made up of two Workshops. The first Workshop will be the same for everyone. For the second Worksop participants will be asked to choose what topic they would like to take part in.
The schedule of events is below:
| Consultation Session 1: 26th March (2pm – 4pm) | Consultation Session 2: 30th March (2pm –4pm) | Consultation Session 3 1st April (2pm – 4pm) | |
| Welcome and Introduction | Welcome and Introduction | Welcome and Introduction | |
| Workshop I – all attendees | Living Independently – including accessibility and personal mobility. (UNCRPD Articles 9,19,20) | Transport (UNCRPD Article 9) | Work, Employment and Standard of Living (UNCRPD Articles 27,28) |
| Break | Break | Break | Break |
| Workshop II – attendees to choose session | Health (UNCRPD Articles 25, 26) or Cultural and Political Life (UNCRPD Articles 29,30) | Law, Justice, Liberty and Freedom (UNCRPD Articles 13,14,15,16,17,18) or Children with Disabilities (UNCRPD Article 7) | Education (UNCRPD Article 24) or Women with Disabilities (UNCRPD Article 6) |
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 Initial State report.
Copies of the Draft Initial State Report can be found here.
Copies of the UNCRPD can be found here.
Registration Details:
Registration for the events will open on the 19th March at 2pm. Participants should log on to this link on that day and time to register for the 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.
Disability Participation and Consultation Network Consultation
The Department’s events are open to everyone. However, there are other ways to provide your views on the Report if these dates do not suit you (listed above).
The Disability Participation and Consultation Network is carrying out a number of consultation events on the Draft State Report. The Network’s events are designed specifically to hear directly from people with disabilities and their organisations and is open to all members who have joined the Network. The Network will then provide a Report on their consultations which will ensure that the Department hears the views of people with disabilities directly.
The list of online events being run by the Network are listed below. If you are a member of the Network email disabilityparticipation@gmail.com to enquire about these events.
Schedule of consultations
| 03 March | 10.30-12.30 | Right to living independently and be included in the community (Article 19) | Accessibility (Article 9) | |
| 04 March | 10.30-12.30 | Women with disabilities (Article 6) | Right to participate in political and public life (Article 29) | |
| 05 March | 10.30-12.30 | Right to education (Article 24) | Children with disabilities (Article 7) | |
| 08 March | 10.30-12.30 | Right to health (Article 25) | Personal mobility (Article 20) | Transport (Article 9) |
| 09 March | 10.30-12.30 | Right to work (Article 27) | Right to an adequate standard of living (Article 28) | |
| 10 March | 10.30-12.30 | Equal recognition before the law (Article 12) | Access to Justice (Article 13) |
Please Note:
- Braille copies of the report are available upon request.