Access to buildings

The Department is committed to the provision of a built environment that is fully accessible to all people regardless of ability. All renovation works that have been carried out in recent times have compiled with the requirements of the Disability Act, 2005. Requirements in this regard have been stressed to the Office of Public Works in the context of provision of office accommodation for the Department under the Decentralisation Programme.

The Department has three buildings located in Dublin and all are fully accessible to people with disabilities. Both the Adelaide Road and Leeson Lane buildings have meeting rooms and restaurant services available either at ground level or accessible by lift, and both have disabled toilets.

The lifts in the Leeson Lane building have recently been refurbished and now have Braille for the visually impaired and mirrors to assist wheelchair users. The lifts in the Adelaide Road building are due to be refurbished shortly by agreement with OPW. The Beggars Bush building is undergoing a refurbishment programme at present with all works to comply with the Disability Act, 2005.

As the Department occupies a number of buildings nationally that are classified as ‘Listed Buildings’ it has not always been possible to achieve accessibility to every building occupied by Department staff. A request has been made to upgrade accessibility to such accommodation as far as possible. In addition, where new accommodation is being sought either for existing regional functions or in the context of the Government’s Decentralisation Programme compliance with the 2005 is a key requirement.

The Department is working closely with the National Disability Authority with regard to the provision of required services within all its buildings and has used the building on Leeson Lane as a working model. The NDA has expressed satisfaction with improvements (Audio Loop System in reception areas and the provision of an Access Handbook) that have been implemented by the Department. However, a number of items were noted as requiring attention under the NDA audit which was carried out in December 2005/January 2006. The detail of each and the timeframe for implementing these improvements is appended.

Under the Health, Safety and Welfare Act, 2005 the Department is having a Safety Audit carried out on all its buildings and it is proposed that the requirements of the Disability Act, 2005 will be taken into account when drawing up the final report and carrying out the recommended improvements. It is hoped to have the Safety Audit completed by mid September, 2006.

National Disability Authority

Performance Indicators