National Disability Strategy

Monitoring the National Disability Strategy

The National Disability Strategy, launched in 2004, aims to support the equal participation of people with disabilities in Irish society. The Strategy provides a legal framework for the mainstreaming of public services adopted by Government in 2000 and comprises the following elements:

  • Disability Bill 2004
  • Comhairle (Amendment Bill) 2004
  • Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004
  • Sectoral Plans from six Government Departments
  • Multi-annual investment programme for disability support services

A National Disability Strategy Stakeholder Monitoring Group (NDSSMG) has responsibility for monitoring the implementation and progress of the Strategy. This group comprises senior officials of the Sectoral Plans, representatives from other relevant government departments, the National Disability Authority and the Disability Stakeholder Group, which comprises six disability umbrella groups. NDA now seeks to gather data on a suite of indicators to examine progress to date on the implementation of the Strategy.

Indicators

The indicators are not intended to capture every aspect of progress, but rather to signal progress in key areas. Indicators relating to health status, for example, cover areas such as routine health care and checks (taking dental visits as the indicator), health-promoting behaviours (diet and exercise), and health outcomes (life expectancy of people with cystic fibrosis in Ireland). The feasibility of gathering data relating to these indicators is now being assessed by NDA.

Data issues

To monitor progress of the National Disability Strategy over time, data sources are required that are regularly updated. With this in mind, many of the indicators being used to measure progress are derived from existing data sources such as:

  • Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS)
  • EU -Survey of Income and Living conditions (EU-SILC)
  • The Health Research Board’s disability data sets
  • Administrative data sets
  • NDA monitoring of the Code of Practice for accessible public services

There are some areas, however, where suitable indicators are not readily available from existing data sources. The NDA will commission specific surveys to gather these data via an omnibus national survey with an additional booster sample of persons with disabilities or persons sharing a household with a person with a disability.

Page last updated: 08/18/2009