New committee to oversee disability rights

The country’s first ever statutory advisory committee to support monitoring of Ireland’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will begin work today with the official appointment of 11 members.

The Disability Advisory Committee will advise the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) on how best to fulfil its independent monitoring role set out under Article 33 of the UN Convention.

The committee is made up of a majority of people with disabilities and will meet at least three times a year over a three-year period.

The 11 members were recruited through an open public process and will be joined on the committee by three IHREC members.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified in 2018, more than a decade after being first signed by Ireland, and is now in force, with Ireland due to produce its first report to the UN on its implementation in 2020.

The new appointees include Shelly Gaynor, chairperson of Independent Living Movement Ireland, and playwright Rosaleen McDonagh. Nine of the members are living with disabilities and are active professionally in working for improvements in disability rights, services, technologies and opportunities for full inclusion in the economic, academic, sporting, and cultural life of the country.

Emily Logan, IHREC chief commissioner, said: “The question of how Ireland meets its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities must be put in the spotlight. This new Disability Advisory Committee will be an important mechanism to ensure that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission can fulfil its mandate to hold the State to account on the rights of people with disabilities.

“The Members of the Disability Advisory Committee bring with them significant personal and professional experience, and wide expertise in relation to the rights of persons with disabilities in Ireland.”