The Disability Participation and

Consultation Network

This is an Easy to Read Guide on

the Organising Member.

This information is about the Disability Participation

and Consultation Network.

This Network is for persons with disabilities and the

organisations that support them.

Participation means taking part in something.

Consultation means asking people for their views

and ideas.

A network is a group of people that join up and work

together.

What is this information about?

1

Ireland is putting the United Nations Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into action.

The Convention is sometimes called the UNCRPD.

It says that children and adults with disabilities

should get a say when laws and policies are written.

Persons with disabilities, and the organisations that

support them, should give their views and ideas.

They should take part in checking how the

Convention is working in Ireland.

Why is this happening?

2

The National Disability Inclusion Strategy is a plan

to support persons with disabilities to take part in

their local communities.

In this strategy, the Government promises to make

it easier for persons with disabilities to take part in

politics and public life.

The Department of Justice and Equality is working

to put the UNCRPD and the National Disability

Inclusion Strategy into action.

Why is this happening?

3

The Government is setting up a new Department of

Children, Disability, Equality and Integration.

In time, this Department will take over this project

from the Department of Justice and Equality.

The Department plans to set up a Participation and

Consultation Network.

The Network will make sure that persons with

disabilities are listened to when laws and policies

are put together.

It will support persons with disabilities to give their

views on how the UNCRPD is put into action.

It means that persons with disabilities will have a

say on the things that are important in their lives.

The Network will be independent.

The Disability Participation andConsultation Network

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The Government and public organisations can ask

the Network to take part in consultations.

In the first year, the Network will write a report on

how the UNCRPD is working.

The Disability Participation and Consultation

Network will start on the 1st October 2020.

The Network will run until the 30th September 2021.

Then, there will be a review of its work and a plan

will be made for the future.

The Disability Participation andConsultation Network

5

The Organising Member

This organisation will set up and manage the

Network.

Grant-funded members

These are organisations run by persons with

disabilities.

They will get money from the Government to be

part of the Network.

Non-grant funded members

These are individuals, or organisations run by

persons with disabilities.

They could also be any individual or group with

skills and experience that could help the Network.

They do not get money from the Government to be

part of the Network.

Who will be part of this Network?

6

The Department of Justice and Equality is looking

for one organisation to set up and manage the

Network.

This organisation will be called the Organising

Member.

Organisations need to apply to be the Organising

Member.

One organisation will be chosen.

The Department will give the Organising Member

money for one-year to run the Network.

This is called a grant.

The grant will be for €70,000.

The Organising Member

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• Organise the Network.

Agree the rules on how the Network will run with

the Department and Network members.

• Make sure the Network gives clear information

about the work they do.

• Make sure that all members can play an equal

part in the Network.

• Support the members to work well together, and

to share information and skills.

• Give members the training they need to take

part in consultations.

What will the Organising Member have to do?

8

• Find out which policies and laws the Network

could consult on.

• Help others to learn about the Network.

• Give admin support to the Network.

• Be the main contact for the Government and

other organisations when they are working with

the Network.

• Get the views of persons with disabilities on how

the UNCRPD is being put into action.

Write a report on this consultation.

What will the Organising Member have to do?

9

To be the Organising Member:

• The organisation must be set up following all the

right laws.

• The organisation must be well managed.

• You do not have to be a Disabled Person’s

Organisation.

The Department would welcome applications

from Disabled Person’s Organisations as well as

from other organisations with the right experience.

• The organisation must meet the Children First

Act 2015.

Who can be an Organising Member?

10

Organisations can ask to be the Organising

Member.

This is called an application.

Organisations will fill out a form with lots of

information about themselves.

A group, called a committee, will be set up by the

Department of Justice and Equality.

There will be two people from the Department, and

two people from outside the Department on the

committee.

Persons with disabilities will also be part of the

committee.

How will the Department choose the Organising Member?

11

The Department has a list of things that the

Organising Member must be able to do.

These are called criteria and are on page 13.

The committee will check all applications to see if

they meet the criteria.

They will make a decision on who will be the

Organising Member.

They will send their decision to the Minister for

Disability Issues.

The Minister will need to agree their decision.

The Department will write to organisations to let

them know if they are chosen to be the Organising

Member.

How will the Department choose the Organising Member?

12

Organisations must have the right knowledge and

skills to run the Network.

They should know about disability issues.

They must have experience working with persons

with disabilities and the organisations that support

them.

Organisations should set out a plan to make sure all

members can take part in the Network.

Organisations should give a vision for the Network.

A vision is an idea for the future.

Organisations should say how they will talk to

persons with disabilities about the UNCRPD.

They should say how they will write the report.

The Criteria for Organising Members

13

The most that the grant can be is €70,000.

The Organising Member must keep a record of how

all money is spent.

The Organising Member will have to sign a grant

agreement with the Department.

The grant agreement must be signed in one month

and sent back to the Department.

The grant agreement says that the Organising

Member must work for equality and human rights.

Getting the grant

14

The Organising Member will have to give their bank

details to the Department.

The grant will be paid into the organisation’s bank

account.

It cannot be paid into a person’s bank account.

The Department of Justice and Equality has rules

when it gives money to organisations.

If you had a grant before and did not follow the

rules, this might stop you from getting this grant.

For example, if you did not finish the work you

agreed to do, or if you did spend the money in the

right way.

Getting the grant

15

The Organising Member must do a report on the

Network.

This must be sent to the Department between July

and September 2021.

The report should have information on the work of

the Network and on how the money was spent.

The Organising Member must also send a progress

report to the Department by March 2021.

This should say how the UNCRPD consultation is

going.

These reports are different to the final report on the

UNCRPD consultation.

The Reports

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Please see our information leaflet on making an

application.

This Easy to Read leaflet explains what you have to

do to apply to be the Organising Member.

The organisation has to fill out a form.

This form should be sent to the Department of

Justice and Equality.

The closing date for applications is 11:00am on

Monday 14th September 2020.

How can an organisation apply to be the Organising Member?

17

This information was put together by

the Department of Justice and Equality.

ACE Communication helped with this

Easy to Read information.

Experts by Experience helped to put

this leaflet together.

More information