Submission on the Disability Act Review - October 2026
The Government is reviewing the Disability Act 2005, and Disabled Women Ireland has made a submission setting out what we want to see happen. This is the first full review of the Act in over twenty years, and the decisions made now will shape disabled people’s rights for a generation. On this page, we explain what the Act is, why it is being reviewed, what we asked for, and what happens next.
What is the Disability Act?
The Disability Act 2005 is Ireland’s main piece of disability legislation. It covers the definition of disability, the assessment of need process, accessible public buildings, universal design, the use of genetic data, and employment. It was passed before Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2018, and it was never designed to deliver the rights the Convention sets out. It uses a medical model of disability, focuses on assessing need rather than meeting it, and gives disabled people very few rights they can enforce. lawsociety
Why is this happening now?
The Government committed to reforming the Act in both the 2025 Programme for Government and the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. The Strategy states that the review will examine the Act in light of the UNCRPD and practical experience of how it has worked. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality launched a public consultation in June 2026, the first comprehensive review of the legislation since it was enacted more than twenty years ago.
What did we ask for in our submission?
A new Disability Act, developed with disabled people and our representative organisations from the start, to replace the 2005 Act.
Rights that are enforceable, so that disabled people can take action when those rights are not met.
Comprehensive monitoring and enforcement, including an independent Disability Rights Commissioner, statutory timelines, and a role for Disabled Persons’ Organisations in monitoring how the Act works.
A statutory right to independent living, with deinstitutionalisation put on a legal footing, so that disabled people have real choice and control over where and how they live.
Read our full submission here:
What happens next?
Submissions closed on the 9th of October. The second stage is a series of online and in-person consultation events run by the Department in the latter part of 2026, with an external facilitator. We will keep pushing for a new Act rather than amendments, and we’ll share updates here as the process moves on.