Implementing the Requirements of the Disability Act in the Department of Transport

Part 1:

• Section 5: identify and report required expenditure in the annual estimates for the provision of services under the Act.

Part 3:

• Section 25: develop a programme of work on access to public buildings, and identify any building to be exempted.
• Section 26: public bodies are required, where practicable and appropriate, to ensure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities.
• Section 27: public bodies are required to ensure that the goods or services that they purchase are accessible.
• Section 28: communications by a public body to a person with a hearing or visual impairment must, as far as practicable, be provided in an accessible format, following a request. Information provided electronically must, as far as practicable, be compatible with adaptive technology. Published information, relevant to persons with intellectual disabilities, must be made available in easy to read formats.

Part 5:

• Section 47: take all reasonable measures to employ people with disabilities. A minimum 3% target will apply initially.
• Section 48: establish a monitoring committee to encourage compliance by public bodies with the 3% employment target. Monitoring committee to report to NDA by 30 June each year. Each public body must report by 31 March to the monitoring committee. Each public body must have a system in place for monitoring, recording and reporting on its measures relating to the employment target.

Approach to Implementation

1. A cross cutting team approach has been adopted for the implementation of the requirements under the Act which apply to Departments and public bodies generally. The specific requirements of the Transport Sectoral Plan are managed separately in the Public Transport Planning Division.
2. An Implementation Team has been established consisting of representatives of those areas of Corporate Services with functional responsibility for the relevant Departmental actions.
3. The Team reports to the Principal Officer, Communications and Information Division, who advises the Assistant Secretary Corporate Management of progress as required.
4. It is intended that membership of the Team be representative of the business units most affected by the Act. Membership can vary according to the need at any particular time.
5. The team will meet at least twice per year and may revise the above terms of reference as required to meet the needs of the Department.

The National Disability Authority (NDA) has developed a Code of Practice in order to support public bodies in fulfilling their statutory obligations under sections 26, 27 and 28 of the Disability Act, 2005. Compliance with this Code will be considered as compliance with the relevant provisions of the Act.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has declared by statutory order (S.I. No. 163 of 2006) that the NDA Code relating to sections 26, 27 and 28 of the Disability Act, 2005 is to be the approved code of practice.

The implementation team will use the NDA Code of Practice as its guide in relation to compliance.

Terms of Reference of Implementation Team

The terms of reference for the Team are:

• To identify and define what is to be undertaken in each business area in order to be compliant with legislation, and identify the timescales involved;
• To identify the potential costs involved, on both programme and administrative budget sides, in the context of the Estimates process for 2006 and later years.
• To outline a programme of work required to meet the legal requirements and to indicate the tasks appropriate to the different business areas of the Department in order to complete the programme of work.
• To submit proposals arising from the above to the Principal Officer, Communications and Information Division, for onward reporting and action as required.
• To contribute material on the above indicated Departmental actions for inclusion, as appropriate, in the Transport Sectoral Plan.
• To recommend a structure for monitoring and accounting for the implementation of the Disability Act in the Department and its agencies.
• To receive and consider reports of activities in each business area on the progress of the work.
• To ensure that Business Plans across each business area reflect the work of the Implementation Team in meeting the Department's obligations under the Disability Act.

Key Activities of the Implementation Team

The key activities in progress or already undertaken to ensure compliance with the Act include:

• Key stakeholders both internally and externally have been identified and responsibility broadly assigned for the delivery of the necessary internal actions, inputs and deliverables.
• A mechanism for reporting the Department's funding requirement for the implementation of the Disability Act 2005, in the context of the Estimates process, is in place in Finance Division and data for 2005 and 2006 have been collated and reported.
• The line divisions with administrative responsibility for State agencies have been contacted with a view to developing a process for populating the required monitoring committee with an appropriate membership as described under the Act. A meeting with the agencies that come under the remit of the Department will been scheduled subsequently.
• A review of the procurement procedures will be conducted and this will incorporate the specific requirement under the Disability Act to ensure goods and services that are procured are accessible to persons with disabilities.
• The Department's existing customer service charter will be updated to include actions to meet the requirement of the Department under the Act in support of both the external and internal customer.
• The next internal customer service survey will be used to identify any deficits that may exist in service delivery and allow for these to be comprehensively addressed in accordance with the Code of Practice on Accessibility.
• A review of the existing information services and formats, to assess whether these are adequately accessible to all persons with disabilities and in the appropriate mediums, is being planned as part of a planned overhaul of the Department's websites in late 2006.
• An analysis of the extent to which buildings, used by the Department's customers and staff are fully accessible, will be undertaken. Again where such deficits exist these will be addressed in a Programme of works to be undertaken in conjunction with the OPW.
• A revised Training Strategy was completed in February 2006 and it includes disability awareness training modules. An organisational disability awareness campaign will be organised and repeated every two years. Typically this will include disability awareness activities, with an emphasis on taking up training and development opportunities.
• A review of the Department's compliance with the target for the employment of people with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments is carried out annually and reported as required under Sustaining Progress. This process will continue and reports will be made to NDA as required under the Act.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

RIA is being applied to all proposals for primary legislation involving changes to the regulatory framework, all significant Statutory Instruments and all proposed EU directives and significant regulations. In addition, the Department has adopted the Guidelines issued by the Department of the Taoiseach in October 2005, in relation to consultation on policy issues in this area.

Legal

The Public Service Management Act, 1997, provides that existing Strategy Statements be reviewed and updated no later than 3 years after the last statements were prepared or within six months of the appointment of a new Minister. Secretaries General and Heads of Office are obliged under Section 4, Public Service Management Act, 1997, to submit statements to Ministers within six months of the Minister coming into office. 

Essentially, a Strategy Statement is a forward-looking document that serves as a framework for action by the Department/Office. While the primary focus of the statement relates to delivering the key Government policy objectives for Transport, the statement should be consistent with key Government initiatives which cut across some or all Departments and Offices. These include, in particular, the requirements of the Disability Act 2005 in respect of public bodies and relevant guidelines issues by the National Disability Authority, in particular their Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services.

Cross- Departmental Issues

As there is a cross-departmental approach in place to progress the disability agenda the next Statement of Strategy will be consistent with the approach taken across the administration generally. The statement will highlight this fact and identify other organisations having a key role in tackling the issue. Where relevant, the Statement will be consistent with the agreed priorities identified by the appropriate Cabinet Committee and the appropriate Cabinet Committee may be a forum for considering the treatment of key cross-cutting issues in the preparation of the Strategy Statement.

Stakeholders

The views of customers, representative bodies, advisory bodies and other stakeholders on disability issues will be taken into account when preparing the Strategy Statement. Consultation with the NDA will be important in this context and will be explicitly referenced in the Strategy Statement. The statement will clearly show how customer/client expectations and needs (including internal customers) have been assessed. This assessment will be based on research of customer needs and wherever possible consultation with customers will underpin and inform the Strategy Statement. To this end, the Statement will illustrate a clear linkage between the Customer Service Action Plan and the development of associated objectives.

Internal

When dealing with the development of human resource management policies and practices, including staff development and training, the disability agenda will be addressed and specific measures proposed will be included. In relation to internal consultation with staff, we will ensure that there is participation by staff with disabilities throughout the Department in this process, possibly via the partnership structure if appropriate.

Specifying objectives, actions and performance indicators

The Public Service Management Act, 1997, specifies that a Strategy Statement shall 'comprise the key objectives, outputs and related strategies (including the use of resources) of the Department of State or Scheduled Office concerned.' Explicit recognition will be given to the objective of making transport more accessible. Anticipated outcomes, in terms of the benefits or changes for individuals or groups arising from pursuing the particular proposed policy will be quantified, where possible. Actions to deliver the outcome will be specified, such as progressing the implementation of the Sectoral Plan for Transport or promoting the use of the NDA's Recommended Guidelines for Public Transport Operators in Ireland. Objectives will be defined in such a way as to allow subsequent assessment as to whether or not they are achieved. Objectives may sometimes usefully be supplemented by the setting of specific, quantified targets or key performance indicators.