Call for new disability rights watchdog

A new national advisory committee of people with disabilities has been recommended as the best way of ensuring disability rights are safeguarded.

The Centre for Disability Law and Policy at NUI Galway says a committee of 12 should be jointly appointed with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission as the new watchdog with powers to scrutinise government policies and service provision, and intervene where they are failing individuals.

Its recommendation is made today as Ireland comes under pressure to implement the United Nations Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities, which the country signed in 2007 but has not yet ratified.

UN special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, will be in Dublin today to push for action as she launches the NUI report.

She is expected to highlight the fact Ireland remains one of just two European countries, along with the Netherlands, not to have ratified the convention, and to point out much work has yet to be done on setting up the monitoring and safeguarding mechanism it requires.

The convention does not specify what model of monitoring group should be adopted, but does require that people with disabilities are at its heart. Its unofficial motto is “nothing about us, without us”.

Researchers at NUI Galway examined six countries that have already ratified the convention, and concluded Malta’s watchdog was the best example to follow.

They said it would be difficult to appoint an existing disability group to act as a monitor because of the myriad of different organisations working in the field.

In their studies, they identified 18 organisations that should have input but those included several umbrella groups that have dozens of individual members. It was felt none were adequately financed or supported to take on a watchdog role alone.

“The creation of a new representative and diverse advisory committee, using a transparent process, would build confidence and trust among the disability community, and with the right support in terms of resources and skills development should ensure robust monitoring of the rights in the convention,” they said.

“Such a committee would be well-placed to support the IHREC in its role as the independent mechanism by providing up-to-date information on the lived experiences of people with disabilities at grassroots level.”

Emily Logan, chief commissioner of the IHREC, welcomed the report and said the convention urgently needed to be ratified.

“The convention places the full and direct participation of people with disabilities at the centre of the monitoring process,” she said. “It represents a step change away from the paternalistic, charitable, and medical models, to an emancipatory approach based on independence, dignity, and self-advocacy.”

The convention does not establish new rights for people with disabilities, but states that people with disabilities can not be denied the human rights that apply to everyone else simply because of their disability.

Ireland is behind in making legislative changes that would remove restrictions on people with disabilities asserting their independence. A key new law, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act was signed but has not yet commenced.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has committed to ratifying the convention by the end of this year.