Ireland must move to ratify UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities- Lynch

Labour spokesperson on Disability, Kathleen Lynch, has expressed concern at how long it’s taking the Government to complete the necessary steps toward ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

It follows an announcement by the Minister for Disabilities over the weekend that draft legalisation due to be brought before Cabinet this week, is to be put to public consultation.

Ms. Lynch said:

“Despite signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities over ten years ago, Ireland is the only EU state that still has not ratified the treaty.

“Many people are quite rightly frustrated- and confused- as to why this process is taking so long.

“Having successfully guided the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013 through the Dáil in 2015, which itself was considered a major step on the road to ratification, I understand the process can be complex.

“However there has been a roadmap in place to drive forward ratification since October 2015, and the references to the provisions on the Deprivation of Liberty that the Minister refers to have been around now for two years.

“While it is obviously important to get it right, I am concerned at how long it is taking for these issues to be ironed out to get the legislation across the line.

“With just a few weeks to go until Christmas, public consultation on the provisions- which still need to be approved by Government- are not likely to be concluded until sometime in the New Year.

“No-one really knows just how long the current political arrangement will last, and the Government must ensure there are no more long delays to ratifying this treaty.”