Annual Report 2005 - The National Disability Authority

Annual Report 2005
• To recommend specific actions to promote employment of people with
disabilities by public bodies and to monitor compliance, with the target of
ensuring that 3% of the public service workforce are people with disabilities
• To establish a Centre for Excellence in Universal Design in the built environment
and information technology.
The NDA is empowered by the National Disability Authority Act 1999 to ‘do
anything which it considers necessary or expedient for enabling it to perform
its functions’. In carrying out its functions, the Authority is entitled to appoint
advisory committees and to engage consultants and advisers as it considers
necessary.
The 1999 Act confers a right of access to information on the Authority where the
information is of relevance to its work and is held by a public body. The Act also
confers a duty on the public bodies concerned to co-operate with the NDA.
The NDA has a number of reporting mechanisms, notably its Annual Report which
must be laid before the Oireachtas. This is the NDA’s fifth Annual Report. Previous
reports are available on www.nda.ie.
The day to day work of the NDA is carried out by the executive, which is made up of
three departments: Policy and Public Affairs, Research and Standards, and Corporate
Services.
The Policy and Public Affairs Department provides policy advice on disability issues to
the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, other Government Departments,
and to other public agencies like the Health Service Executive and local authorities. The
department is also responsible for coordinating the central services of public relations,
design and printing for the NDA.
The Research and Standards Development Department covers research, the NDA
library, the development of standards, and accessibility of public services. It operates the
Excellence Through Accessibility Award Scheme.
The Corporate Services Department offers organisational support. It has responsibility
for financial and budget management and reporting; human resources; information
communication technology; building maintenance, co-ordination of programme
management and governance issues. This department also provides support to the
Authority in relation to its meetings and preparation of materials.
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