Public Consultation to inform the Review of the Disability Act 2005

We want to hear from you!

The Minister for Children, Disability & Equality has launched a public consultation to inform the review of the Disability Act 2005.

We would particularly like to hear from disabled people, their families and carers, their representative groups, and Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs).

The Disability Act 2005 is a wide-ranging piece of legislation which strives to improve the quality of life for disabled people, but it has not been updated in any significant manner since its enactment over 20 years ago.

It defines ‘disability’ as ‘a substantial restriction in the capacity of the person to carry out a profession, business or occupation in the State or to participate in social or cultural life in the State by reason of an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment’.

The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 sets out a whole-of-Government approach to disability and to progressively realising the rights of disabled people under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Strategy outlines 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 UNCRPD.

As stated in the Strategy, the Disability Act 2005 is being reviewed. This means that we are examining how the Act has worked, or how it has not worked, and how it should be reformed having regard to the State’s obligations under the UNCRPD.

The purpose of this consultation process is to inform the review of the Disability Act in its entirety.

Recent reforms have focused on Part 2 of the Disability Act because of the urgent need to make the Assessment of Need (AON) process more effective and efficient for children and families. Further information on these targeted reforms can be found here. The review of the Disability Act in its entirety will involve a detailed consideration of Part 2 and other reforms that may be needed to advance the implementation of the UNCRPD.

The review will also include examination of the Programme for Government commitment to place an autism strategy on a legislative footing.

In order to ensure that this process is as accessible as possible there are multiple methods of sharing your views to inform this consultation process.

Email Submission:

Submissions from interested parties are invited and can be returned to disabilityactreview@dcde.gov.ie

A form has been developed to support these submissions. This can be accessed here.

Please note that submissions made to disabilityactreview@dcde.gov.ie are subject to a file size limit of 25MB.

For larger files, please use FormsIE at this link to attach your submission.

Postal Submission:

By post, to:

The Disability Equality Policy Unit

Department of Children, Disability and Equality

Block 1, Miesian Plaza

50-58 Baggot Street

Dublin 2

D02 XWI4

Freepost F5055

Online Submission:

If you wish to make a written submission but do not wish to send an email or send a submission in the post you can submit by using FormsIE at this link.

Video/Audio Submissions:

If making a written submission is not accessible for you, you can make an audio or video submission. Video submissions can be made in Irish Sign Language. This can be emailed as an attachment to disabilityactreview@dcde.gov.ie (subject to a file size limit of 25MB).

For larger attachments, please use FormsIE at this link.

Braille Submission:

For a copy of the consultation in Braille, please email us at disabilityactreview@dcde.gov.ie. Please say which version of braille you would like.

The closing date for receipt of submissions is Wednesday 9 September 2026 at 5pm.

Please note that submissions received will not be responded to.

The consultation process involves two stages: a public call out for submissions and a range of online and in-person consultation events which will be conducted by the Department in the latter part of 2026 with the assistance of an external facilitator.

A report of the consultation process will be publicly available once completed.

The Government will draw on the findings of this consultation to inform the areas of consideration in the legislation and to inform recommendations arising from the review.

In parallel with the consultation process, research will be conducted into good practices internationally in incorporating relevant UNCRPD obligations into domestic legislation. It is anticipated that the research will take place over a 9-month period.

The review may result in:

• recommendations for legislative changes,
• recommendations for policy development, and/or
• recommendations for further research and/or consultation.

All submissions and survey answers are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and are also subject to Data Protection legislation.

Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission as this information may be releasable under FOI legislation.

We ask you to please read our Privacy Statement for further information.

If you have any further queries or need assistance, please email disabilityactreview@dcde.gov.ie