The Department of Justice has published a Roadmap to Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) that outlines both the legislative changes necessary and the timeframe leading to ratification. Ministers Fitzgerald and Ó Ríordáin also approved the drafting of a bill to include all the necessary legislative amendments. The General Scheme of this bill, the Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, is to be published by the end of this year and enacted by the end of 2016.
Ireland signed the CPRD in 2007 and is one of three EU Member States yet to ratify. In order to satisfy the State’s obligations under the Convention, changes must be made to legislation governing decision-making capacity, mental health legislation, the law governing the administration of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), and certain criminal law provisions.
Minister Fitzgerald said: “It has taken us a long time – too long – to get to this point, so I am delighted to be in a position to publish a document that I believe will set out clearly and concisely what it is we have to do to meet all the requirements of this very important international Convention. We are proud of our record where human rights and equality issues are concerned, and we take our responsibilities seriously. For that reason, it is important that we get this right, and that the amendments we make to our laws will ensure practical and meaningful realisation of the Convention’s principles in a coherent and cohesive way.”
Minister Ó Ríordáin said: “For Ireland, ratification will mark the end of the preparation and implementation phase, not the beginning. As I have stated many times on record, we are deeply committed to ratification of CRPD. Equality is not about treating people the same, but creating the circumstances that will allow the outcome for each person to be the same; it is about making sure that every individual has equal access to the enjoyment of their rights. We are not there yet, but the Roadmap we are publishing today shows how we intend to get there and how much time it will take.”
Click here to read Roadmap