Louth Senator Erin McGreehan has welcomed the government decision to accede to the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – (UNCRPD).
The Optional Protocol is an international agreement that complements the UNCRPD, which aims to promote, protect, and ensure that all persons with disabilities fully and equally enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Ireland ratified the Convention in March 2018.
The Optional Protocol itself introduces two key procedures. The first allows individuals or groups file a complaint to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding violations of their rights, while the second empowers the Committee to investigate serious or systematic breaches of the Convention.
Senator McGreehan, who is Fianna Fáil’s Seanad spokesperson on Disabilities, said: “It is hugely welcome that the government has decided to now accede to the optional protocol to the UNCRPD, which the government initially ratified in March 2018.
“I have been campaigning for the accession to the Optional Protocol for years now. This is a positive step for the upholding of rights of people with disabilities. It puts a greater onus on the State to look to the UNCRPD and actually work across each department to disability-proof each policy and piece of legislation that the State puts forward.
“The Convention aims to make sure that people with disabilities are treated fairly, have the same opportunities as people without disabilities, and are fully included in society.
“These are the objectives that we must all share. Acceding to the Optional Protocol means that people with disabilities will have their rights better upheld by strengthened accountability measures.
“I am glad that the government has finally decided to accede to the optional protocol, something I have been calling for a long time. Today is an important day for people with a disability in Ireland.”
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