Disability Rights need ratification

It should be a source of great shame for the Government that they have still not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a decade after signing it.

Councillor Chris MacManus told this to members at the July Council meeting when he tabled a motion on the issue.

The tenth anniversary of the signing of the Convention was marked on 30 th March this year.

“At the time, the signing of this convention was heralded as a means to significantly improve the lives of those with disabilities in Ireland. A decade has now passed and Ireland remains the only EU country left to ratify this very important Convention,” he said.

“Needless to say this is a source of great hurt and frustration for those living with a disability, their families, their carers and I believe, Irish society as a whole.

“While one accepts the fact that there are legislative requirements necessary to ensure obligations under the Convention will be met it is still simply unacceptable that it has taken this long.

“Sinn Féin has raised this issue on a number of occasion with the Minster Finian McGrath but as of yet, not timetable for the needed legislation to ratify the Convention has been published.

“It should be a source of great shame for the Government that these people have to still campaign and protest this at all, then years after signing the UN Convention.

“We in Sinn Fein call on Government to make equality the policy and to ratify the UNCRPD as soon as possible,” he said.

Cllr Thomas Healy seconded the motion.

Cllr Declan Bree, who is Chair of the Council’s Disability Consultative Committee, said it was “amazing” that it still hadn’t been ratified despite Minster McGrath saying it would be.

“It doesn’t reflect well on us that we have dallied on this,” agreed Cllr Hubert Keaney.

“If we want to become one of the greatest nations on earth we should ratify it,” he added.