The National Disability Authority is the independent state body providing expert advice on disability policy and practice to the Minister, and promoting Universal Design in Ireland. Find out more about the NDA...
The first Your Voice Your Choice event will take place on June 19, 2012 in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin. Further information is available about Your Voice Your Choice . Please complete a form to apply for a place on the day.
The National Disability Authority and the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht are hosting a conference on Access to Historic Buildings and Places on the 30th May 2012 at the Law Society, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
This conference will be relevant for anyone involved in managing or developing historic buildings and facilities. The target audience includes facilities managers, design teams, heritage and conservation officers, conservation architects, building control officers, access officers, and planners. It will help to identify the balance between improvements in accessibility and protecting the integrity of the building or facility. It will draw on local and international best practices, and will include questions and answers sessions with experts in this field.
Further information including full conference programme and details of how to book are available on the Irish Georgian Society website. If you have any difficulty accessing the booking form, please contact us on 01-6080405 or dmomalley@nda.ie.
People with disabilities are more likely to be victims of crime than other citizens, however crime against people with disabilities is often not reported or does not proceed to prosecution. The National Disability Authority in 2011 funded research to explore the barriers to reporting and prosecuting such crime in Ireland, and at what happens in other jurisdictions. The research was undertaken by a team at University College Cork. The views expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Disability Authority.
The National Disability Authority has been working on a suite of indicators to document the outcomes being achieved for people with disabilities under areas covered by the National Disability Strategy. To complement the data available from official data sources, NDA commissioned a survey in 2011 with a particular focus on any difficulties people with disabilities had in getting to where they want to go. The survey looked, among other matters, at access to transport, and at whether local facilities had steps into them. This survey was conducted by Ipsos MRBI, with a telephone sample of 1,000 people, supplemented by a booster sample to bring the number of disability households covered to 500. Similar surveys were conducted for the NDA in 2009 (Red C) and 2004 (MRBI).
These guidelines were developed by the Department of Justice and Equality, the Equality Authority and the National Disability Authority
This series of 10 booklets provides comprehensive best practice guidance on how to design, build and manage buildings and spaces so that they can be readily accessed and used by everyone, regardless of age, size, ability or disability. The booklets were launched by Mr Phil Hogan, T.D., Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government on 23rd February 2012.
The National Disability Authority undertook a national survey of public attitudes to disability in Ireland in July and August 2011. This survey builds upon previous surveys conducted by the Authority in 2001 and 2006.
Access: Improving the accessibility of historic buildings and places was developed by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht as part of their Advice Series of booklets. The purpose of this guidance is to advise those who own, manage or care for buildings and places of architectural heritage significance on the options available to them to improve accessibility.
This Code of Practice is designed to guide public bodies in meeting their statutory obligation under the Disability Act 2005 to make heritage sites accessible for people with disabilities by providing practical advice and examples.
The National Disability Authority has prepared papers looking at how a whole systems approach can support the employment of people with disabilities. The papers are based on expert seminars looking at what works well for different groups. A seminar will take place in 2012 on strategic approaches to employing people with autism.
The 2010 Report on Compliance with Part V of the Disability Act 2005 on Employment of People with Disabilities in the Public Service is based on information received by the NDA in relation to 2010 from monitoring committees established under Part V of the Act.
The World Report on Disability was jointly produced by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank in June 2011 to provide the evidence for innovative policies and programmes that can improve the lives of people with disabilities, and facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The National Disability Authority is currently engaged in a feasibility study to guide the implementation of a resource allocation system for disability services in Ireland.
The National Disability Authority has produced a guide that provides employers with the simple, key steps to help employees who have acquired a disability to stay in work.
The National Disability Authority's 2012 report on implementation of the Croke Park Agreement can be found here. Savings are being achieved through working with a reduced staff complement, and through savings in the cost of central services.
NDA publishes all Requests for Tenders on the eTenders (www.etenders.gov.ie) procurement website. NDA is currently seeking submissions in relation to Requests for Tender, details of which can be found here.
NDA has undertaken an extensive programme of work identifying contemporary developments in disability services. This work is now available in a series of papers culminating in the NDA's advice paper to the 2010 Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services in Ireland.
To facilitate the development of policy and practice and to improve the dissemination of research findings, the National Disability Authority hosts an annual conference. The papers from the NDA Annual Conference 2011 are available.
You can find some recent policy submissions and advice papers from the NDA in this section.
The vision, mission and strategic objectives of the National Disability Strategy have been set out in a policy document which is available at the Department of Justice and Equality. Under the terms of the Disability Act 2005, six Government departments prepared Sectoral Plans on disability, which are now in force.
The NDA has appointed Mr Alan Dalton as Access Officer. He can arrange extra help for people with disabilities who use the NDA's information and services. The Disability Act 2005 requires every public body to have a least one Access Officer. If you need help to use the NDA's information and services, you can contact Alan Dalton by phone at (01) 608 0406 or by sending an email to accessofficer@nda.ie.
If you have a general question for the NDA, you should contact us by phone at (01) 608 0400 or by sending an email to nda@nda.ie.
If you have an individual query about your entitlements, you can contact the relevant statutory body which is the Citizens Information Board at 1890 777121.
The NDA has a complaints protocol for people who are not happy with the NDA's service.