Disability strategy could pave '10-year roadmap', campaigners say

A new strategy focusing on the needs of deaf and disabled people in Northern Ireland is an "opportunity" to set the roadmap for the next 10 years, campaigners have said.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons outlined details of the draft plan on Tuesday in the assembly.

About one in four people in Northern Ireland experience some form of a disability, with proposals in place to review and reform current laws.

Deena Nimick from the Centre for Independent Living said it was "so important" that the disabled community is involved in the discussions.

"Disability is likely to affect almost everyone in Northern Ireland at some stage. If you don't have a disability you're likely to get one as you get older, or you may have a loved one who has a disability," she said.

Ms Nimick was at Stormont as the minister unveiled his plan.

He spelled out a commitment for deaf and disabled people to have access to quality health and social care without discrimination, and said he would set up a Northern Ireland Disability Forum to monitor the actions included in the strategy.

Lyons said the forum would be made up entirely of deaf and disabled people, with his officials providing secretarial support.

"Not many ministers will do that," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme.

"They will maybe create a strategy and allow it to sit on the shelf. I'm saying I want to be held to account on this. I want my executive colleagues to be held to account as well."

He said that the strategy was not a "box-ticking exercise", adding that he had listened to the views of the disabled community about reforming current legislation.

"I too believe there is a clear case for the review and potential reform of disability law here," he added.

Officials are now looking into that issue, with the minister saying any changes would require extra funding across various Stormont departments but that it is "the right thing to do".

The draft strategy will now go out for public consultation, external for a minimum 12-week period.

"We need to make sure we deliver what we are promising, I believe the commitments we have here we can deliver within departmental budgets - but this shouldn't just be seen as a way for us to have to spend money but this is an investment - investing in deaf and disabled people has a whole host of benefits," Lyons told BBC News NI.

Ms Nimick said that disabled people - due to the challenges they face across society - are used to "thinking smart and overcoming barriers".

She said groups would be watching the executive closely to hold them to account on their promises, adding: "Let's make this work."

Speaking to Talkback Farah Black, who has a disability, said the announcement "matters hugely".

"But I'm afraid the people in the disabled community within Northern Ireland are tired of strategies that sit on paper, while our real lives, they stay stuck."

She said that it needs to be "delivered with pace".

"Disabled people don't need another decade of consultation. We need action."

Another campaign group, Disabled People Against Cuts, has already issued a briefing paper spelling out what they called "failures" with the draft strategy.

In it they said they had hoped for a strategy of "better quality and with substantial commitments" aiming to progress the rights of deaf and disabled people in Northern Ireland.

"The draft strategy has left us feeling disillusioned and devalued.

"We believe that more broadly deaf and disabled people will feel the same, having made clear to us in engagement around the strategy that what they wanted most was a strategy that changed things not a document that does nothing," it said.

"The draft strategy notably lacks concrete commitments. The targets are not specific, measurable, achievable, relevant or time-bound and this undermines the quality of the strategy."

The Disability Strategy, once approved in final form by the Northern Ireland Executive, will run for a 10-year period from 2025 to 2035 and will be underpinned by an action plan targeted at progressing strategy outcomes and commitments.

Those outcomes include deaf and disabled people exercising their rights and freedoms on an equal basis, accessing and progressing within quality employment in an inclusive labour market, and living independently in the community with choice and control.

The action plan will be monitored, reviewed, and updated annually with published progress reports which will be agreed by the executive.

A formal midpoint review will allow for the strategy itself to be assessed, taking account of the annual reports on the action plan.