Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

List of issues in relation to the initial report of Ireland *

A.Purpose and general obligations (arts. 1–4)

1.Please provide information on measures:

(a)To withdraw the reservations and declarations to articles 12, 14 and 27 (1);

(b)To incorporate the Convention into domestic law and to implement the Optional Protocol to the Convention;

(c)To harmonize legislation with the Convention, including amending derogatory terminology, such as “insanity”, “mental disorder” and “disease of the mind”;

(d)To implement the rights in the Convention that are subject to immediate realization, including in relation to individual autonomy, such as the freedom to make one’s own choices;

(e)To ensure the close consultation and active involvement of persons with disabilities through their representative organizations in the development of the plans of action to implement the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030 (the Strategy 2025–2030) and to ensure inclusion of concrete actions, benchmarks and delineated ministerial responsibility for implementation and outcomes.

2.Please provide information about:

(a)Formal mechanisms for the close consultation and active involvement of organization of persons with disabilities in all government processes, law reform, policy development and evaluation;

(b)Measures to build the capacity, including through multi-annual core funding, of organizations of persons with disabilities that are “led, directed and governed by persons with disabilities”, including those for women with disabilities and children with disabilities, to represent the interests of persons with disabilities in national and local consultations and decision-making processes, including in the Delivery and Monitoring Committee for the Strategy 2025–2030.

B.Specific rights (arts. 5–30)

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

3.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures to reform the Equality Acts, including through the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024, to ensure that reasonable accommodation is defined in accordance with article 2 of the Convention and covers all areas of life and public and private actors;

(b)Legislative and policy measures, including amendments to the Equality Acts, to address multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, such as discrimination against women and girls with disabilities, children with disabilities, older persons with disabilities, Travellers and Roma with disabilities, migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities and LGBTIQ+ persons with disabilities.

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

4.Please provide information about:

(a)Whether policies, such as the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2025–2030 and the Strategy 2025-2030, include specific actions and measurable outcomes for women and girls with disabilities;

(b)Measures to ensure the effective participation of women and girls with disabilities in public and political life, including by addressing the practices, prejudice and gender stereotypes that prevent their participation.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

5.Please provide information about:

(a)Whether policies, such as the National Framework for Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making and the Strategy 2025–2030, include specific and substantive actions and measurable outcomes for children with disabilities;

(b)Measures to ensure that children with disabilities can express their views freely and that their views are given weight in accordance with their evolving capacities and on an equal basis with other children, including in mechanisms such as the National Youth Assembly of Ireland and the Delivery and Monitoring Committee of the Strategy 2025–2030.

Awareness-raising (art. 8)

6.Please provide information about measures to promote awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities, to counter stigma, prejudice and negative attitudes in the community and to embed the standards and principles of the Convention across sectors, including in the public sector, local authorities, education, media, health, employment and justice and in public procurement practices, curriculum content, law enforcement training materials and health guidelines on prenatal screening.

Accessibility (art. 9)

7.Please provide information about:

(a)The outcomes of the implementation of the European Accessibility Act;

(b)The monitoring and complaints mechanisms relating to accessibility legislation, including the European Accessibility Act, Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies and other relevant European Union instruments;

(c)Measures to ensure that the principles of universal design are embedded across the functions of public bodies with regard to obligations under the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty and to ensure that public bodies deliver and procure public services and infrastructure in accordance with accessibility obligations under the Convention;

(d)Measures to address the lack of accessible and affordable public transport and paratransit services and infrastructure, in particular for persons with disabilities in rural areas;

(e)Measures to ensure that all public bodies are aware of and comply with legal obligations to provide Irish Sign Language for access to statutory entitlements and services.

Right to life (art. 10)

8.Please provide information about legislative and policy measures to investigate, document and report deaths of children and adults with disabilities in institutional settings, including residential, aged care and psychiatric facilities, to identify and address systemic neglect and service failures and to collect disaggregated data on mortality rates and life expectancy to track disparities.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

9.Please provide information about:

(a)Mechanisms to ensure the close consultation and active involvement of persons with disabilities through their representative organizations in the development and implementation of plans and strategies relating to emergency management, disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation;

(b)Measures to ensure that the Emergency SMS/Text Service for the Emergency Call Answering Service is accessible to deaf persons, including through the provision of Irish Sign Language video relay, real-time communication options and alternatives to written English;

(c)The implementation of the National Broadband Plan to ensure uniform and consistent, accessible emergency contact and communication;

(d)The consultation process for the independent evaluation of the State’s response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the outcomes for persons with disabilities.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

10.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To review the operation of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, with a view to removing the functional test of mental capacity, abolishing all forms of substitute decision-making and recognizing the legal capacity of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others;

(b)To effect the commencement of the provisions relating to Advance Healthcare Directives under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act;

(c)To remove the provision for inherent jurisdiction in the 2022 Amendment Act, which enables the High Court and the Circuit Court to bypass the requirement to have regard to the will and preference of the person concerned and enables courts to make substitute decisions regarding the care, treatment and detention of the person;

(d)To develop supported decision-making mechanisms that are in accordance with general comment No. 1 (2014) on equal recognition before the law, including supported decision-making mechanisms for persons with disabilities under the age of 18 to ensure that their legal capacity is respected on an equal basis with other children;

(e)To ensure that the transfer of wards of court to the Decision Support Service does not result in continued substitute decision-making, that the persons with disabilities (the wards) and their families are consulted on the transfer, that safeguards are in place to protect the property and finances of discharged wards and that there is an investigation and complaint mechanism to address investments previously made with funds and managed by the wards of court system.

Access to justice (art. 13)

11.Please provide information about:

(a)The State Party’s response to the recommendations from the study, “Access to Justice: Implementation of Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”, conducted by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission;

(b)Measures to amend legislation that excludes persons with cognitive, intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities from eligibility for jury service;

(c)Measures to amend the Criminal Law (Evidence) Act to enable gender- and age-appropriate procedural accommodations for persons with disabilities to give evidence in courts on an equal basis with others;

(d)Measures to support victims and witnesses with disabilities in domestic, sexual and gender-based violence cases, including an update on the implementation of measures within the plan “Supporting a victim’s journey: a plan to help victims and vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases”;

(e)The types of procedural accommodations provided by the Courts Service to enable jurors, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants with disabilities to participate in legal proceedings on an equal basis with others;

(f)Measures to monitor progress and strengthen legislation, policy and training throughout the judicial system on accessibility standards and the provision of procedural accommodations in the justice system;

(g)Measures to implement recommendations from the review of the Civil Legal Aid Scheme, including measures to address the unmet legal need experienced by persons with disabilities.

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

12.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To comprehensively assess against the standards and principles of the Convention the provisions of the proposed legislation on the protection of liberty safeguards and the Mental Health Bill 2024;

(b)To abolish legislative provisions, including in the Mental Health Act 2001, the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 and the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act, and proposed provisions in the Mental Health Bill 2024 that authorize deprivation of liberty on the grounds of impairment and/or based on functional capacity assessments;

(c)To address the indefinite detention in mental health facilities of and the lack of procedural guarantees for persons with disabilities who are deemed “unfit to plead” or “not guilty by reason of insanity”;

(d)To assess the adequacy and timeliness of the provision of gender- and age‑appropriate disability-related supports, mental health supports and reasonable accommodation in the prison system;

(e)To address the lack of community-based services that compel many older persons, including those with disabilities, to live in residential care and the restrictive policies and procedures that limit liberty within residential care.

Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 15)

13.Please provide information about:

(a)The status of the General Scheme for the Inspection of Places of Detention Bill and whether proposals for the national preventive mechanism include a broad definition of “places of detention” covering mental health establishments, healthcare, aged care and residential settings;

(b)Measures to ensure statutory regulation, oversight and monitoring of residential centres for persons with disabilities, aged care services, nursing homes and mental health services outside the regulatory remit of the Mental Health Act;

(c)Measures to prevent the placement of children with psychosocial disability in adult psychiatric facilities;

(d)Measures to prohibit forced mental health treatment, including psychosurgery and electroconvulsive treatment without personal consent;

(e)Measures to prohibit coercion, forced treatment and the use of restrictive practices, including physical, chemical and mechanical restraints and seclusion, within child and adolescent mental health services, private and public aged care services, nursing homes, schools, mental health facilities and residential settings, and to establish alternative, non‑coercive, age-appropriate support measures.

Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)

14.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures to revise the Domestic Violence Act 2018 to ensure that it covers the specific experiences of violence experienced by persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities;

(b)Measures within the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender‑Based Violence (2022–2026) that target the specific forms of violence experienced by women and girls with disabilities and address the accessibility of victim support services and shelters; and measures to ensure the close consultation and active involvement of women and girls with disabilities in the implementation and review of that Strategy;

(c)Measures to address the systemic factors enabling the exploitation of, violence against and the abuse of children and adults with disabilities in public and private institutional and community settings, including complaint, oversight and inter-agency coordination mechanisms; the provision of independent advocacy and legal representation; and steps to address gaps in the criminal justice system, inspection bodies and the care system;

(c)The status of the proposed adult safeguarding legislation and its alignment with the standards and principles of the Convention;

(d)Measures to address systemic failures, hold perpetrators to account and provide reparations for “historical” and recent incidents of violence perpetrated against children and adults with disabilities, including in relation to Áras Attracta, the Grace case, the Brandon case and Mary’s case;

(e)Measures to detect, protect and support victims of trafficking with disabilities and measures to transpose into domestic law Directive (EU) 2024/1712 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims.

Protecting the integrity of the person (art. 17)

15.Please provide information on legislative and policy measures to protect persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities, from forced or coerced sterilization, contraception and abortion.

Liberty of movement and nationality (art. 18)

16.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To ensure that the protection of children and adults with disabilities seeking international protection is included within legislative provisions transposing the European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum;

(b)To ensure that the International Protection Accommodation Service, the International Protection Office and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal have the disability-specific skills and expertise to adequately identify and respond to the specific circumstances and needs of persons with disabilities;

(c)To provide adequate protection and age-appropriate support, including disability-specific support, to children with disabilities in direct provision;

(d)To ensure that the “vulnerability triage screening” available to “single young men” applying for international protection includes disability identification components that facilitate the provision of essential needs, disability support and housing;

(e)To address the lack of accessible and safe housing within close proximity to health, disability and specialist support for persons with disabilities in direct provision centres;

(f)To reinstate “vulnerability assessments” for all international protection applicants with “special” reception needs and to ensure the provision of support, including disability-related supports, assistive devices and medical needs, arising from assessments.

Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)

17.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To strengthen and accelerate the deinstitutionalization process through the strategy “Time to move on from congregated settings – a strategy for community inclusion”, including through timelines and indicators to independently assess progress, and to ensure adherence to the Convention;

(b)To strengthen approaches to and investment in accessible public, social and private housing, as well as providing information about outcomes of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022–2027;

(c)To prevent the placement of young persons with disabilities in nursing homes and to support the relocation of young persons with disabilities currently in nursing homes into appropriate housing in the community;

(d)To provide a legal right to personal assistance defined by choice and control and to establish a standardized human rights-compliant assessment process to ensure equitable access to personal assistance across Ireland;

(e)To publish a review of the pilot scheme providing personalized budgets and implement further roll-out of an accessible, rights-based and person-centred scheme;

(f)To address the waiting lists and delays for essential community-based support and early intervention services for children with disabilities, including through the child disability network teams.

Personal mobility (art. 20)

18.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To ensure that the provision of mobility aids and assistive devices is based on the needs and preferences of individuals with disabilities and not limited by funding parameters;

(b)To ensure that planning for public transport infrastructure, streetscapes, shared spaces and the public use of pavements includes the close consultation and active involvement of persons with disabilities.

Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information (art. 21)

19.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To ensure that public information, public consultation materials and online feedback forms are accessible to persons with disabilities, including through Braille, sign language, Easy Read and accessible online formats;

(b)To address barriers to the implementation of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017, including the low awareness of the Act, the shortage of professional Irish Sign Language interpreters, geographical variation in the availability of Irish Sign Language, costs for Irish Sign Language training and gaps in regulatory and oversight mechanisms for the accreditation and professional practice of Irish Sign Language interpreters;

(c)To significantly increase the quantity and quality of Irish Sign Language and subtitled content on national television and to ensure internal quality control by broadcasters to deliver high-quality Irish Sign Language and subtitled content.

Respect for privacy (art. 22)

20.Please provide information about the protection of personal information, including medical records of persons with disabilities, including in hospitals and in institutions and the accessible complaints mechanisms in place for privacy breaches.

Respect for home and the family (art. 23)

21.Please provide information about:

(a)How parental capacity assessments ensure that disability is not viewed as a risk factor for parenthood and whether disaggregated data on the outcomes of these assessments is collected to identify systemic bias;

(b)Supports and services available for parents with disabilities to assist in undertaking their parenting role;

(c)Supports and services for families of children with disabilities to prevent family breakdown and the placement of children in institutions and to ensure a safe and secure family environment;

(d)Measures to provide sex and reproductive health, healthy relationship and consent education to children and adults with disabilities.

Education (art. 24)

Segregated system

22.Please provide information about:

(a)The outcomes of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Needs Act 2004 and measures to ensure that legislation guarantees the right to inclusive education in accordance with the Convention;

(b)Measures to develop an inclusive education strategy and to transition from reliance on segregated schools and special classes to inclusive education provision that aligns with the Convention;

(c)The outcomes of the National Access Plan 2022–2028 for higher education;

(d)Measures to address the lack of appropriate school places for children with disabilities and to eliminate the practice of placing children with disabilities, in particular children with intellectual disabilities and autistic children, on reduced timetables as a behavioural sanction;

(e)Measures to address the ongoing shortage of special needs assistants and the reassignment of those assistants to teaching roles;

(f)Measures to ensure that the access and inclusion model guarantees timely individualized support for children with disabilities from adequately trained personnel in early childhood education settings;

(g)Measures to ensure that visiting teachers for deaf and hard-of-hearing children are proficient and fluent in Irish Sign Language and to ensure that deaf children who use Irish Sign Language as their first language have access to the Irish Sign Language Scheme.

Health (art. 25)

23.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To develop and implement a system of universal healthcare and the expected benefits for persons with disabilities;

(b)To ensure uniform consistency, standards, training and regulation within the healthcare system to enable persons with disabilities to access healthcare on an equal basis with others;

(c)To ensure the accessibility, availability and affordability of sexual and reproductive health, family planning and preventative healthcare services, including breast, cervical and bowel screening services;

(d)To reform the process for the assessment of need and to ensure holistic, rights‑based assessments for children with disabilities;

(e)To address the shortcomings in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services outlined in the 2023 report on the independent review of the Services by the Inspector of Mental Health Services;

(f)To ensure that mental health services for the deaf community are culturally and linguistically appropriate, including through the provision of Irish Sign Language and the training of professionals in deaf culture and language.

Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)

24.Please provide information about proposals developed by the Working Group on Assistive Technology and other measures not confined to employment to address access to and the affordability of essential aids, appliances or assistive technology.

Work and employment (art. 27)

25.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To address the employment gaps and challenges raised in the review of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities 2015–2024 by the National Disability Authority;

(b)To address the lower employment rate for women with disabilities, including information on whether employment strategies include gender-specific measurable actions and indicators;

(c)To support persons with disabilities to exit rehabilitative training and adult day services into employment and further education or training and the outcomes of these measures;

(d)To provide training, guidance and codes of practice on workplace accessibility and reasonable accommodation obligations across all sectors.

Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)

26.Provide information about:

(a)The outcomes of commitments under goal 5 of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020–2025 and whether further poverty alleviation commitments have been made for persons with disabilities, including specific commitments for women and girls with disabilities;

(b)Measures to ensure that the disability allowance provides an adequate standard of living and to introduce a permanent annual cost of disability support payment, as outlined in the 2025 Programme of Government;

(c)Measures to remove disincentives in the social protection system that prevent or limit access to employment for persons with disabilities and to implement recommendations from the 2017 “Make work pay” report;

(d)Measures to remove the spousal/family income means test, which impacts economic independence and poses a risk of women with disabilities being subject to control or violence;

(e)Measures to ensure older persons with disabilities are not disadvantaged in the social protection system by age cut-offs for disability allowance and shifts to “older person” social protection categories.

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

27.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To remove barriers for candidates with disabilities standing for elections, including negative attitudes, a lack of sign language interpreters and barriers in the built environment, transport and information and communication;

(b)To ensure that persons with disabilities can vote by secret ballot, that information on elections, voting procedures and political parties is accessible, including in Easy Read, and that polling stations are accessible;

(c)To address barriers faced by persons living in hospitals, nursing homes and other residential and institutional settings to casting their vote;

(d)To provide accessible political and civic education programmes in schools, day services and community settings, and to ensure that persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, can actively participate in civil and political life.

Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport (art. 30)

28.Please provide information about measures:

(a)To enable persons with disabilities to develop and utilize their creative, artistic and intellectual potential;

(b)To increase the participation of persons with disabilities in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport, including outcomes achieved through the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme 2018–2023, the Tourism Action Plan 2019–2021, the National Sports Policy 2018–2027 and Sport Ireland’s Policy on Participation in Sport by People with Disabilities;

(c)To ensure that the social inclusion voucher scheme is adequately funded and accessible to all deaf persons, including deaf children, and that limits on the number of vouchers does not restrict participation in cultural, recreation, leisure and sport on an equal basis with others.

C.Specific obligations (arts. 31–33)

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

29.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures to systematically collect, analyse and disseminate disaggregated disability data within and across all areas of life, including employment, health, education, housing, justice and social protection, in order to inform policy and law reform and monitor implementation of the Convention;

(b)The status of the National Equality Data Strategy and the transposition into national legislation of the article on data collection and access to equality data of the European Union Employment Equality Directive.

International cooperation (art. 32)

30.Please provide information on measures:

(a)To ensure the implementation of the European Consensus on Development and strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities, including women and girls with disabilities, in international cooperation;

(b)To ensure that persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, are closely consulted and actively involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of international cooperation strategies.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

31.Please provide information about:

(a)The status of national monitoring mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the Convention and the procedures, funding and resourcing to ensure the participation of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in these mechanisms;

(b)Measures to ensure formal engagement and cooperation with the Independent Monitoring Mechanism by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (the Convention focal point) and relevant Government and public bodies, including engagement with Mechanism’s advice and recommendations.