Bríd Smith demands action on UN disability protocol delay

Thanks very much. The other evening on the debate around disability services, Minister, you said in relation to the optional protocol under the UN Convention for Human Rights, that there was ratification of the protocol as being scoped out and considered. So, seven years after we signed the UN protocol, we are scoping out and considering. I find that an incredible answer to that question, and I would ask you to please explain what exactly you are going to do about this. I am taking the two PQs together, priorities. Thank you very much, Chair. So, Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 20 March 2018. This marked an important milestone in the process to strengthen the rights of people with disabilities in Ireland, and has gathered momentum since Ireland to become a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A signatory to the Convention in 2007. Ireland's approach to meeting the obligations of the UN CRPD is one of continuous advancements each year moving forward on key reforms to consistently strengthen and uphold obligations and the rights arising from the Convention. I recognise the importance of the optional protocol to the UN CRPD. As the deputies will be aware, the optional protocol is an international treaty that establishes procedures aimed at strengthening the implementation and monitoring of the Convention. Ratification of the optional protocol is a commitment in the Programme for Government, and the timeline for ratification was intended to follow the conclusion of the state's first review period before the UN Committee. Due to the delays at the UN Committee, I understand that Ireland's appearance will now be delayed, possibly for some time. In light of this, both Minister Gorman and I have indicated that we are open to earlier ratification, contingent on the state being in a position to meet its obligations thereunder. This is reflected of the state's long-standing approach to entering into binding international obligations in good faith and at a point where the state is in a position to meet its obligations. As Minister of State with responsibility for disability, I want to ensure that we are in a position to uphold all our commitments under the UN CRPD once the optional protocol is ratified. In that regard, we know that the commencement of the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act 2015 is required before ratification can occur and for closer alignment with the Convention. It is intended that the important legal reform will be in place once the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Amendment Bill is passed into law. The Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Amendment Bill has completed committee stage and we look forward to working with all members to pass this legislation as expeditiously as possible. In addition to the passage of the bill, my department is in the process of scoping what other requirements there might be before ratification. ratification can occur if any further requirements for ratification are identified and these will be addressed as a matter of priority. I think, Deputy Smith, that is the basis of your question there is to the scoping that is going on to ensure that all departments are in a position to ensure the optional protocol can be enacted as quickly as possible. That is the scoping that is going on. Can I ask how this works because we are sharing the time? Deputy Smith, Deputy Smith, you are going to go with your one minute. The Minister will respond. Deputy Smith, you are going to go with your one minute. The Minister will respond. Deputy Smith, you are going to go with your one minute. The Minister will respond. Back to you. I will get you two minutes each. Okay. Okay. Thanks very much. Minister, I do not know about you and I know you were not Minister back in 2015 when the UN Treaty was ratified. But I find that extraordinary that after seven years we are still at the point of scoping and looking at what else needs to be done. Now, if you find it extraordinary or unacceptable, please say so. Because you are the Minister for the department. And if you do not say so, then we are going to assume that you think that that is okay. That somebody who maybe was seven years of age in 2015, who is now 14 and suffers from severe disabilities and does not get the attention they need from the state, does not have the right to go outside the state to make a complaint. And that is what a member of the UN Committee on the Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities said. And I mentioned this the other night in my contribution on the rights of people with disabilities. Mr Schafer said at the committee here that not ratifying the optional protocol has the optics that you really haven't got the confidence in your own system. Now, you have more or less said that now in a different way, but he has maintained and told the committee in 2021 that you need to move on and ratify it. He did not say the delay is with us. I do not understand why you are putting it back on the UN Committee. Mr Schafer, I might just respond there. Deputy, I think the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act and Bill are a really good example of why we are doing this. So that was legislation passed in 2015. I still do not understand why that was not implemented, but it was not. And in the seven years since, wardship, which is entirely in breach of the principles of the UNCRPD, has continued to exist and people have continued to be wards of court. We know that if we signed up to the UN Optional Protocol, we'd immediately be found in breach because wardship is so against the UNCRPD. So what we are doing is working to get those key pieces of legislation where we are in breach to resolve those breaches. That's why we've been working really hard to get the Assisted Decision Capacity Amendment Bill through. And it's in the Shanage now. It's going to report stage in the Shanage. And remember, by doing that, we are actually making lives better for people with disabilities. Because we're looking to get ourselves into compliance, something like wardship is finally going to be abolished. Deputy Smith. I mean, I'm looking back on the record and the debate around this, and it is going on since 2015. And when Finian McGrath, the former minister, was here, he made the same commitment in 2018 as you're making here today. That's four years ago now. Now, four years mightn't seem a long time to a deputy or a minister, but it's a long time in the life of somebody who has to live with a crippling and often crucifyingly painful disability and isn't getting the services that the state should be obliged to give them. And so they have no redress, no recourse to coming back on the state or your department if they suffer. But you and previous ministers can tell us that you're working on it. You're working hard. We're promised we're going to deliver on it. And seven years later, going back to 2015, it still hasn't moved forward. I find that unacceptable. The people who need access to this optional protocol, who need the mechanism to be able to call the state to account, must find it absolutely excruciating. And I think that both of you sit there with this sort of patience of, you know, I'm overburdened with civil service work and I have to get this bill passed. There needs to be a question and a feeling of urgency around this issue once and for all. Thanks, Stephanie. I think there is urgency. I think we have prioritised the advancement of one really important piece of legislation that will allow us to move towards compliance fully with UNCRPD, which is the assisted decision-making legislation. And I absolutely share your frustration. And as I said before, I still don't fully understand how law that was passed in 2015 has never been fully enacted. But myself and Minister Rabbit are looking to bring forward the solution, which is this amending legislation, which will make the relevant changes, simplify the processes, allow the decision support service to be established, and allow us to have a situation where people who have some limitation to their capacity will be supported to make decisions, rather than that incredibly Victorian notion of wardship, where basically all decisions, big or small, about their life is put in the hands of a High Court judge. And by making that change, not only are we legally compliant, but we're making lives better for the thousands of people who are in wardship and will want those supports. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.