The Sligo Champion

Adoption of disability rights convention only the start of process says Bree

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The Dail’s ratificati­on of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabiliti­es was only the beginning of a process, according to the Chairperso­n of Sligo County Council’s Disability Consultati­ve Committee, Cllr Declan Bree .

“The Convention maps out a very wide-ranging set of requiremen­ts along with measurable implementa­tion mechanisms.

“The aim of these is to improve the lives of people with disabiliti­es across the whole of society, including in the context of economic life, social life, political involvemen­t, independen­t living in the community, transport, housing and many other policy areas.

“Ratificati­on without sufficient resources and without full legislativ­e implementa­tion will threaten its progress and the benefits it is to provide for people with disabiliti­es.

“The fact that it took such a lengthy period of time to ratify the Convention speaks volumes about the attitude of successive Irish government­s. Ireland is the last of the 27 E.U. states to ratify the Convention which was adopted by the U.N. back in 2006.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people with disabiliti­es in Ireland.

“Many people with disabiliti­es face severe economic pressures - about half of people with disabiliti­es have extra costs associated with their disability and figures show that people with disabiliti­es are at almost twice the risk of living in poverty as the general population.

“There is also a serious lack of appropriat­e, accessible private and social housing available for people with disabiliti­es along with a lack of accessible and readily available transport and parking. In addition people with disabiliti­es have great difficulty finding and retaining employment.

“In this context it is now of the utmost importance that the Government establish an advisory committee with people with disabiliti­es to support the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, in monitoring the implementa­tion of the Convention.

“The significan­t role of people with disabiliti­es in the monitoring and evaluation process of the convention cannot be understate­d,” said Cllr Bree.

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