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14 2005

Disability Act 2005

PART 3

Access to Buildings and Services and Sectoral Plans

Definition.

24. —In this Part “housing authority” has the same meaning as it has in the Housing Act 1966 amended by section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 .

Access to public buildings.

25. —(1) Subject to subsection (4) and section 29 , a public body shall ensure that its public buildings are, as far as practicable, accessible to persons with disabilities.

(2) (a) The Minister may request the National Disability Authority (“the Authority”) to prepare and submit to him or her a draft code of practice (“a draft code of practice”) relating to the accessibility of public buildings to persons with disabilities for the purpose of giving guidance to public bodies.

(b) In preparing a draft code of practice under paragraph (a), the Authority shall consult such other Ministers of the Government or other persons or bodies as the Authority considers appropriate or as the Minister may direct.

(c) The Minister may approve, refuse to approve or, after consultation with the Authority, amend a draft code of practice.

(d) If the Minister approves or, after the consultation aforesaid, amends a draft code of practice, he or she may by order declare that the draft or, as the case may be, the draft code of practice as amended as aforesaid is an approved code of practice for the purposes of this section (“an approved code of practice”).

(e) The Minister may, after consultation with the Authority, by order revoke or amend an approved code of practice.

(f) A public body shall comply with an approved code of practice to such extent as is practical having regard to its resources and obligations and, in particular, shall do so—

(i) at the time of the construction, material alteration or extension of a public building, or

(ii) if by doing so, access to public buildings would be provided to a greater number of persons with disabilities in a more cost effective manner than would otherwise be the case.

(3) (a) Buildings, which are public buildings on the commencement of this section or which become public buildings after such commencement, shall be brought into compliance with Part M (unless the building is already required to be so compliant) not later than 31 December 2015.

(b) Public buildings shall be brought into compliance with any amendment of Part M made after such commencement not later than 10 years after the commencement of the amendment.

(4) A Minister of the Government may, by order declare that subsection (3) shall not apply to a public building specified in the order and in relation to which functions stand conferred on him or her if he or she is satisfied that—

(a) the building is being used temporarily as a public building and will cease to be used as such after 3 years from the date of the making of the order,

(b) the building will not be used as a public building after 3 years from the date of the making of the order, or

(c) making the building accessible to persons with disabilities would not be justified, on the grounds of cost, having regard to the use to which the building is put.

(5) Before making an order under subsection (4), the Minister of the Government concerned shall consult with such other Ministers of the Government or such other persons as he or she considers appropriate.

(6) In this section—

“Part M” means Part M of the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 497 of 1997) as amended;

“public building” means a building, or that part of a building, to which members of the public generally have access and which is occupied, managed or controlled by a public body.

(7) This section shall come into operation on 31 December 2005.

Access to services, etc.

26. —(1) Where a service is provided by a public body, the head of the body shall—

(a) where practicable and appropriate, ensure that the provision of access to the service by persons with and persons without disabilities is integrated,

(b) where practicable and appropriate, provide for assistance, if requested, to persons with disabilities in accessing the service if the head is satisfied that such provision is necessary in order to ensure compliance with paragraph (a), and

(c) where appropriate, ensure the availability of persons with appropriate expertise and skills to give advice to the body about the means of ensuring that the service provided by the body is accessible to persons with disabilities.

(2) Each head of a public body referred to in subsection (1) shall authorise at least one of his or her officers (referred to in this Act as “access officers”) to provide or arrange for and co-ordinate the provision of assistance and guidance to persons with disabilities in accessing its services.

(3) This section shall come into operation on 31 December 2005.

Accessibility of services supplied to a public body.

27. —(1) Where a service is provided to a public body, the head of the body shall ensure that the service is accessible to persons with disabilities.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply if the provision of access by persons with disabilities to any services provided to the body—

(a) would not be practicable,

(b) would not be justified having regard to the cost of doing so, or

(c) would cause unreasonable delay in making the goods or services available to other persons.

(3) In this section references to the provision of services include references to the supply of goods.

(4) This section shall come into operation on 31 December 2005.

Access to information.

28. —(1) Where a public body communicates with one or more persons, the head of the body shall ensure—

(a) if the communication is an oral one and the person or persons aforesaid has a hearing impairment and so requests, or

(b) if the communication is a written one and the person or persons aforesaid has a visual impairment and so requests,

that, as far as practicable, the contents of the communication are communicated in a form that is accessible to the person concerned.

(2) Where a public body communicates in electronic form with one or more persons, the head of the body shall ensure, that as far as practicable, the contents of the communication are accessible to persons with a visual impairment to whom adaptive technology is available.

(3) The head of a public body shall ensure, as far as practicable, that information published by the body, which contains information relevant to persons with intellectual disabilities, is in clear language that is easily understood by those persons.

(4) This section shall come into operation on 31 December 2005.

Access to heritage sites.

29. —(1) (a) The head of a public body shall, as far as practicable, ensure that the whole or a part of a heritage site in its ownership, management or control to which the public has access is accessible to persons with disabilities and can be visited by them with ease and dignity.

(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply if its application would—

(i) have a significant adverse effect on the conservation status of a species or habitat or the integrity of a heritage site, or

(ii) compromise the characteristics of the site.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorising or requiring the adaptation or modification of any heritage site contrary to law.

(3) In this section “heritage site” includes—

(a) a monument within the meaning of the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2004,

(b) a heritage building or a heritage garden or park within the meaning of the Heritage Act 1995 ,

(c) a protected structure or a proposed protected structure, with any attendant grounds, or an architectural conservation area, within the meaning in each case of the Planning and Development Act 2000 ,

(d) a nature reserve which is the subject of an establishment order within the meaning of the Wildlife Acts 1976 and 2000, and

(e) a national park owned by the State and under the management and control of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

(4) This section shall come into operation on 31 December 2007.

Codes of practice.

30. —(1) The Minister may request the National Disability Authority (“the Authority”) to prepare and submit to him or her draft codes of practice for public bodies relating to the matters referred to in sections 26 to 29.

(2) In preparing a draft code of practice under subsection (1), the Authority shall consult with such other Ministers of the Government or other persons or bodies as the Authority considers appropriate or as the Minister may direct.

(3) The Minister may approve, refuse to approve or, after consultation with the Authority, amend a draft code of practice.

(4) If the Minister approves, or after the consultation aforesaid, amends a draft code of practice, he or she may by order declare that the draft or, as the case may be, the draft code of practice as amended as aforesaid is an approved code of practice for the purposes of this Act (“an approved code of practice”).

(5) The Minister may, after consultation with the Authority, by order revoke or amend an approved code of practice.

(6) Compliance by a public body with an approved code of practice shall be deemed to be compliance with the relevant provision of this Act.

Sectoral plans.

31. —(1) Each of the following Ministers of the Government—

(a) the Minister for Health and Children,

(b) the Minister for Social and Family Affairs,

(c) the Minister for Transport,

(d) the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources,

(e) the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and

(f) the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment,

shall prepare and publish a plan (referred to in this Act as a “sectoral plan”) in relation to the matters specified in sections 32 to 37 outlining the programme of the measures proposed to be taken by or on behalf of the Minister of the Government concerned for and in relation to those matters as they relate to the provision of services to persons with specified disabilities by him or her or by public bodies or other persons in relation to which he or she performs functions or allocates moneys under section 5 .

(2) Before publishing a sectoral plan under subsection (1), a Minister of the Government shall consult with such persons representative of persons with disabilities as he or she considers appropriate.

(3) A sectoral plan prepared by a Minister of the Government under subsection (1)

(a) may be amended by him or her by another plan under that subsection,

(b) may be revoked by him or her by another plan under that subsection replacing the first-mentioned plan or amending another plan under that subsection,

(c) may be revoked by him or her by an instrument in writing that neither replaces nor amends another plan under that subsection and is made in the manner in which the plan being revoked was made.

(4) A sectoral plan shall contain—

(a) appropriate information concerning codes of practice (if any) and regulations (if any) relating to the subject matter of the plan,

(b) the complaints procedure to be provided by a public body or by other persons in relation to any matters which are the subject of the plan,

(c) monitoring and review procedures in relation to the subject matter of the plan,

(d) a statement of the intervals at which reports shall be prepared relating to the progress made in the implementation of the plan, being intervals of not more than 3 years from the date of the publication of the plan under this section,

(e) if appropriate, the level of access relating to the services specified in the plan, and

(f) such other matters (if any) as the Minister of the Government concerned considers appropriate.

(5) Where an accessible public transport service and associated buildings and infrastructure are required by a sectoral plan to be provided by a specified date (“the specified date”) and the specified date is later than the date which would otherwise apply by virtue of sections 25 to 29, the service, buildings or infrastructure may be provided at any time before the specified date.

(6) When a sectoral plan is prepared by a Minister of the Government it shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be but in the case of the first such plan not later than one year after the commencement of this section and the plan shall not have effect until a resolution approving of the plan has been passed by each House of the Oireachtas.

(7) When a report is prepared by a Minister of the Government under this section, it shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be.

Sectoral plan of Minister for Health and Children.

32. —(1) A sectoral plan prepared by the Minister for Health and Children (“the Minister”) shall contain information concerning—

(a) services provided by or on behalf of the Minister to persons with disabilities,

(b) the criteria governing the eligibility of such persons for services under the Health Acts 1947 to 2004,

(c) the proposed arrangements for the implementation of Part 2,

(d) arrangements for co-operation by the Executive with housing authorities in relation to the development and co-ordination of the services provided by housing authorities for persons with disabilities, and

(e) such other matters (if any) as the Minister considers appropriate.

(2) A plan referred to in subsection (1) shall provide for appropriate co-operation by the Minister with the Minister for Social and Family Affairs and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (“the two Ministers”) in relation to the development and co-ordination of services provided by the two Ministers for persons with disabilities and related to the services referred to in subsection (1).

Sectoral plan of Minister for Social and Family Affairs.

33. —(1) A sectoral plan prepared by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs (“the Minister”) shall contain information concerning—

(a) the criteria governing the eligibility of persons with disabilities for payments under the Social Welfare Acts and the amounts of such payments,

(b) the information, advice and advocacy services and sign language interpretation services provided or arranged to be provided to those persons by Comhairle,

(c) any other services provided by or on behalf of the Minister which the Minister considers appropriate, and

(d) such other matters (if any) as the Minister considers appropriate.

(2) A plan referred to in subsection (1) shall provide for appropriate co-operation by the Minister with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for Health and Children (“the two Ministers”) in relation to the development and co-ordination of services provided by the two Ministers for persons with disabilities and related to the services referred to in subsection (1).

Sectoral plan of Minister for Transport.

34. —A sectoral plan of the Minister for Transport (“the Minister”) shall contain information concerning—

(a) a programme of projected measures for the provision of access to persons with disabilities to passenger transport services for the general public provided by the Minister or by a public body in relation to which he or she performs functions or by a person or body licensed or regulated by the Minister,

(b) measures to be taken for the purpose of facilitating access by persons with disabilities to such services and the time within which such measures are to be taken,

(c) arrangements proposed to be put in place by the Minister and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to facilitate access to the vehicles providing the passenger transport services by such persons from a public road, and

(d) any other matter which the Minister considers appropriate.

Sectoral plan of Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

35. —(1) A sectoral plan prepared by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources shall contain information concerning—

(a) measures to be taken by the operators of passenger ships for the purpose of facilitating access by persons with disabilities to marine passenger transport services provided by them and the time within which the measures are to be taken,

(b) measures to be taken by the bodies responsible for the control and operation of specified ports and harbours for the purpose of facilitating access by those persons to places therein where such services originate or terminate in and the time within which such measures are to be taken, and

(c) any other matter which the Minister considers appropriate.

(2) In this section “passenger ships” means passenger ships within the meaning of the Merchant Shipping Act 1992 and passenger steamers within the meaning of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act 1952 .

Sectoral plan of Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

36. —(1) A sectoral plan prepared by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (“the Minister”) shall contain information concerning—

(a) measures to be taken to ensure compliance with Part M of the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 497 of 1997),

(b) measures to be taken to facilitate access by persons with disabilities to public roads and other public places and to other services provided by the Minister, local authorities or other public bodies in relation to which he or she performs functions and the time proposed within which such measures are to be taken,

(c) arrangements proposed to be put in place by the Minister and the Minister for Transport to facilitate access to the vehicles providing the passenger transport services by such persons from a public road,

(d) housing and accommodation for persons with disabilities,

(e) proposed arrangements for co-operation by housing authorities with the Executive in relation to the development and co-ordination of the services provided by housing authorities for persons with disabilities, and

(f) any other matters which the Minister considers appropriate.

(2) In this section “public places” includes—

(a) street furniture, pavements and pedestrian zones,

(b) signage,

(c) public parks and open spaces owned or maintained by a local authority,

(d) harbours, bus and light rail stops for which a local authority is responsible,

but does not include a public building under section 25 or a service to which section 26 or 27 applies.

Sectoral plan of Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

37. —(1) A sectoral plan prepared by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (“the Minister”) shall contain information concerning—

(a) vocational training and employment support services and programmes made available to persons with disabilities by An Foras Áiseanna Saothair,

(b) a programme of the measures proposed to be taken for and in relation to the provision of appropriate vocational training and employment support services to facilitate the integration of persons with disabilities into employment,

(c) measures to be taken to review the delivery of such training and services and the time within which such review is to be carried out,

(d) any measures to be taken to ensure more effective provision of such training and services, and

(e) any other matters which the Minister considers appropriate.

(2) A plan referred to in subsection (1) shall provide for appropriate co-operation by the Minister with the Minister for Social and Family Affairs and the Minister for Health and Children (“the two Ministers”) in relation to the development and co-ordination of services related to the foregoing services provided by the two Ministers for persons with disabilities.

Complaints.

38. —A person may by himself or through a person referred to in section 9 (2) make a complaint in writing to the head of a public body in relation to the failure of the body to comply with section 25 , 26, 27, 28 or 29 of this Act.

Inquiry officers.

39. —(1) The head of a public body may authorise such and so many officers of the body as he or she considers appropriate (referred to in this Act as “inquiry officers”) to perform the functions conferred on inquiry officers by this section.

(2) The head of a public body shall draw up procedures in relation to the making and investigation of complaints and such other matters relating to complaints as he or she considers appropriate and shall cause the procedures to be published.

(3) An inquiry officer shall be independent in the performance of his or her functions.

(4) Following the receipt of a complaint by the head of a public body under section 38 , he or she shall refer the matter to an inquiry officer.

(5) When a complaint is referred to an inquiry officer under subsection (4), he or she shall (unless he or she is of opinion that it is frivolous or vexatious in which case he or she shall notify the public body and the complainant to that effect) investigate the complaint and prepare a report in writing of the results of his or her investigation and furnish a copy of it to the head of the public body concerned and to the person who made the complaint.

(6) A report under subsection (5) shall set out the findings of the inquiry officer concerned together with a determination in relation to the following matters, namely—

(a) in case the determination is that the complaint is not frivolous or vexatious, whether there has been a failure by the public body the subject of the complaint to comply with a provision referred to in section 38 , and

(b) in case the determination is that there has been such a failure, the steps required to be taken by the public body concerned to comply with the provision concerned.

(7) An investigation by an inquiry officer under this Act shall be conducted otherwise than in public.

(8) In this section “complaint” means a complaint under section 38 .

Application of Ombudsman Act 1980.

40. —Notwithstanding anything contained in the Ombudsman Act 1980 , that Act shall apply to a determination of an inquiry officer or a decision of a complaints officer in relation to a sectoral plan with the following and any other necessary modifications as if it were an action taken by or on behalf of a Department of State:

(a) in section 1, in subsection (1), the following shall be inserted after the definition of “functions”:

“ ‘head’, in relation to a public body, and ‘public body’, have the meanings assigned to them by the Disability Act 2005;”;

(b) in section 4, in subsection (2), the words from and including “(being an action taken in the performance of administrative functions)” to the end of the subsection and subsection (4) shall be deleted;

(c) in section 5, in subsection (1)(a), subparagraph (iii) shall be deleted;

(d) in section 6, the following subsection shall be substituted for subsection (3):

“(3) Where, following an investigation under this Act into an action, it appears to the Ombudsman that, by reason of a failure to comply with a provision of Part 3 of the Disability Act 2005 or of a sectoral plan under that Part, the action adversely affected a person by or on whose behalf a complaint was made under section 38 , or in accordance with the procedure for complaints provided for pursuant to section 31 (4)(b), of that Act or any other person and the Ombudsman considers that in all the circumstances he or she should do so, he or she may recommend to the head of the public body concerned or to any other person concerned—

(a) that the matter in relation to which the action was taken be further considered,

(b) that measures or specified measures be taken to remedy, mitigate or alter the adverse effect of the action, or

(c) that the reasons for taking the action be given to the Ombudsman,

and, if the Ombudsman thinks fit to do so, he or she may request the head of the public body or that other person to notify him or her within a specified time of his or her response to the recommendation.”;

and

(e) in section 7, the following subsection shall be inserted after subsection (1):

“(1A) (a) An officer of the Ombudsman authorised in writing in that behalf by the Ombudsman may, for the purposes of a preliminary examination or an investigation under section 4 in relation to a public body or any other person concerned carried out by virtue of section 40 of the Disability Act 2005

(i) at all reasonable times enter any premises occupied by the body or other person aforesaid,

(ii) search the premises and any books, documents or other records found there by him or her,

(iii) require any person on the premises who is employed by the body or other person to give to him or her such information within his or her knowledge or procurement (including, in the case of such information in a non-legible form, a reproduction of it in a legible form), or such records as aforesaid in his or her possession or within his or her procurement, as he or she may reasonably require for the purposes aforesaid,

(iv) examine and take copies of, or of extracts from, any such records as aforesaid and remove and retain any such records for such period as may be reasonable for further examination,

(v) require any such person as aforesaid who has in his or her possession any such records to retain them for such reasonable period as he or she may direct, and

(vi) take on to the premises and use there a camera or other recording apparatus or any other equipment, for the purpose of facilitating the proof of any non-compliance with Part 3 of the Disability Act 2005 found or suspected by the officer on the premises.

(b) In paragraph (a), ‘premises’ includes a structure or place and a vehicle, ship or other vessel and the reference to occupied in that paragraph shall be construed, in relation to a vehicle, ship or other vessel, as a reference to owned, used or operated.

(c) A person who—

(i) obstructs or impedes an officer of the Ombudsman while he or she is performing a function under this section,

(ii) fails or refuses to comply with a requirement under this section,

(iii) alters, disposes of or destroys any books, documents or other records which the person has been required under this section to give to such an officer or may reasonably expect to be required so to do, or

(iv) gives to such an officer information which is false or misleading in a material respect,

is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000.

(d) When performing any of his or her functions under this subsection, an officer of the Ombudsman shall, if so requested by any person affected, produce to the person his or her authorisation under paragraph (a) or a copy of it.”.