The Anne Sullivan Centre and Foundation are delighted to learn that The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) has finally been ratified by the Dáil.
The UNCRPD supports the rights of all people with disabilities to equality in respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Disability groups and campaigners including The Anne Sullivan Centre have lobbied extensively over the years to ensure that ratification would take place.
Article 24 of the declaration is of particular importance to the service users of the Anne Sullivan Centre as it recognises deafblindness as a distinct disability and states that people who are deafblind should have the same rights as all other EU citizens and that these should be enforced by appropriate legislation in each member state and should include the right to receive one-to-one support from communicators and intervenors where appropriate.
The next step in the ratification process will involve Simon Coveney the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs signing the Instrument of Ratification. A document will then be sent by the Irish government to the United Nations (UN) in New York to complete the ratification process and once it is received by the UN, it will come into force after 30 days.
Minister with Responsibility for Disability Issues Finian McGrath said ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was his key priority when he assumed his role in 2016.
Ireland was the last of the 27 European Union countries to ratify the convention, which was first adopted by the UN in 2006. Access the debate.