Introduction

This final section will outline the key findings from this book, consolidated from the previous chapters, with a particular focus on the comparative study. Some tentative recommendations for reform in Ireland will then be proposed regarding the development of baseline data and the reframing of the National Disability Strategy in light of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Although these suggestions are focused on Ireland, it is hoped that they will be useful for other comparative countries, especially those with national disability strategies who have signed and/or ratified the CRPD. Finally, this section will set out the ways in which the primary objectives of this research have been addressed throughout the text.

A number of key findings about the nature, purpose, and ways of achieving national disability strategies have emerged throughout this book, and these have been highlighted throughout the various chapters. These findings will be summarised here for the purpose of clarity. First, it is important to look outside the narrow sphere of disability policy to find innovative ways of implementing national disability strategies and making them meaningful for people with disabilities. Disability advocates and proponents of the social model have long maintained that the source of problems faced by people with disabilities lies within societal systems and structures including health, education, employment, transport systems, etc. Therefore, it is important to look to the techniques employed to overcome these barriers within those systems, and also ideas that have been successfully used by other historically marginalised groups to achieve equality, including women, children, and those facing racial or ethnic discrimination.