The Taoiseach has said that he understands the anger and frustration of parents of children waiting on spinal surgery.
Speaking at a news conference on the launch of the Government's new national disability strategy, Micheál Martin said there had been increased surgeries but these were in no way sufficent.
Mr Martin said that the goal was to ensure that "every child has a surgical intervention when it is clinically optimal".
He said that he and the Tánaiste were determined to "go at this root and branch to make sure that happens".
Mr Martin said that disability needs a "whole-of-Government" response and he had established the disability unit in his department not just to co-ordinate but "to drive things".
He said "there can be no hiding place for any Government department., there can be no buck passing between departments".
The Taoiseach added that therapies in schools was a red line issue and was now happening.
He said the Government was going to bring that approach to the issue of spinal surgeries and healthcare more generally.
Access to transport was another priority issue, he said.
Five-year strategy
The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People runs from 2025 to 2030.
The Government said it marked a "significant milestone" in the advancement of disability rights in Ireland and that for the first time in such a strategy, disabled people and their representative groups, played a key role in its development.
The document outlines the Government's policy commitments across five main areas, in order, it says, to meet the modern-day needs of people with disabilities.
Those areas include health, education, employment, transport and training.
Among the commitments are the maximising of job opportunities in the public sector and promoting the hiring of people with disabilities across the private sector.
It also says it will improve retention rates in education.
The document also states that it will improve accessibility across arts and sports and enable active engagement in elections.
Among other commitments are enhancing the "overall heath and wellbeing" of those with disabilities.
It says it will also provide enhanced mobility option for those who can't access public transport.
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Tánaiste Simon Harris said the strategy was an effort to ensure that people with disabilities can live their full lives.
He said the plan will drive improvements in the delivery of specialised disability services including to reduce waiting times and ensure children and their families can access the right care and the right time.
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, said as a country the Government must do better for people with disabilities.
She said people with disabilities have been at the heart of developing the strategy, adding that she was determined they will also be at the heart of its implementation.
She also said it was great day, describing the "joy of launching" it, but said a more important day lies ahead when every aim of the strategy has been implemented.
Her colleague, Hildegarde Naughton, the minister of state with responsibility for disability, said while the Government is investing in a "massive house building programme", she acknowledged not enough houses are being built for people with disabilities.
Ireland signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 and ratified it in 2018. It was the last EU Member State to do so.
In November 2024, it ratified the Optional Protocol allowing individuals to take complaints to the UN if rights under the Convention are violated and if domestic remedies fail.
In June, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission submitted a report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities describing the State’s response to the widespread rights violations and inequalities experienced disabled people as "grossly inadequate".
It called for an urgent "comprehensive review" of existing legislation and public policy with a priority placed on alignment with the UNCRPD.
The aim of the new strategy is continue implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
According to Census 2022 approximately 22% of the population, (1.11m people), are living with some form of disability.
There is also growing prevalence of childhood disability according to the ESRI, which found that 36% of 13-year-olds born in 2008 had some degree of disability.
