Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to be able to address today’s session to discuss the general provisions and implementation of the UNCRPD. I acknowledge the cross-party work of this committee and its clear efforts in seeking to drive progress for disabled people in line with its remit to monitor the implementation of the convention. This is an exciting time in the evolution of the disability landscape in Ireland, and I look forward to updating the committee on the range of work ongoing in the Department to ensure disabled people are supported through a coherent policy agenda and joined-up action across Government.

One of the key initiatives is the development of the next national disability strategy, in keeping with a programme for Government commitment to delivering a plan for the advancement of the UNCRPD in Ireland. We have completed a robust and extensive public consultation process that has seen a national survey, town hall meetings throughout the country, engagement with our standing disability consultation and advisory groups, and targeted efforts to capture the voices of intersectional experiences, marginalised groups and seldom heard disabled voices. Informed by the consultation, this strategy will target actions across Government, with a thematic focus under five pillars, namely, inclusive learning and education, employment, independent living and active participation in society, well-being and health, and transport and mobility. Finalising the programme of work under these pillars and developing robust structures for accountability and responsibility are the current focus of work on the strategy. Critically, this is the first time we have structured a disability strategy on the principle of "mainstream first", and I am determined to put in place a framework that allows for co-ordinated and effective whole-of-government action on disability issues, which, as this committee knows, are far reaching.

On the disability action plan, this year has seen extensive stakeholder consultation throughout the sector, most importantly with disabled people themselves, as we work to optimise the implementation of the plan and ensure co-design and collaborative work is enshrined as a core principle in how we work, aligned to the UNCRPD. We are now into the first reporting phase for the plan, meaning that at the end of July, an independent monitoring group will review progress against actions. I look forward to its review of what has been achieved so far and what areas, if any, need additional focus to enable their progress. We got off to a good start, with a budget of €74 million secured through the budgetary process to begin building capacity and enhancing services, but we are now into a crucial period when important groundwork needs to be done.

The committee also requested an update on the progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap. I welcome the scrutiny of children's disability services that the committee has undertaken to date and its report, Aligning Disability Services with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, published in February 2023. A key finding in the committee's report is the inability of the PDS model to deliver effectively with regard to early intervention therapies, impacting UNCRPD compliance where the convention calls for a transition from a diagnosis-led service to a needs-based service, with assessment at the earliest possible stage and based on multidisciplinary assessment.

Both my Department and the HSE are highly conscious of the need to deliver services, both assessments of need and therapy interventions, and the model of PDS is seen as the most effective. The PDS roadmap is being rolled out to reorient the services from diagnosis-led disability to support UNCRPD and early intervention outcomes for children with complex disabilities. This includes increasing the disability services budget by 10.6% to ensure that children's disability network teams devote more efforts to therapy provision rather than assessments of need. The allocation of funding in budgets 2023 and 2024 came to a total of €16.5 million and the recently announced €6.95 million waiting list initiative has facilitated CHOs to procure clinical assessments through the private sector. The HSE is focused on recruiting more staff with much more aggressive recruitment of new graduates this summer to permanent CDNT positions, agreement on pay increases for section 39 staff and significant expansion in third level places and pipeline from September 2024 and September 2025.

These are just a few examples of the work ongoing across the system to ensure we deliver services and advance our obligations under the UNCRPD. Under the broad umbrella of the national disability strategy, we will implement a framework approach to delivery, providing a coherent vision for the future of disability in Ireland and enabling genuine, co-operative whole-of-Government action. I look forward to any questions members have to ask.