AGENDA
Welcome and Registration
- 9:30am Tea and coffee
Introduction and Opening Address
10:00am Introduction and Welcome Address
Dr Aideen Hartney, Director, National Disability Authority
10:15am Opening Address
Kevin McCarthy, Secretary General, Department of Children, Disability and Equality
Session 1: Models of Good Practice
10:30am Introduction - NDA's eLearning module on Disability Equality
Niamh Fawl, Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Disability Authority.
10:40am Panel Discussion: Lived experience of universally design and accessible public services
Chair: Niamh Fawl
Panellists:
Caitlin Cruise, Training and Accreditation Manager, AsIAm
Brian Dalton, Senior Accessibility Test Lead
Heylove Robert Mark Senior, Administration Assistant, Age Action
Caroline McGrotty, Access Officer, Electricity Supply Board (ESB)
Liam McMunn, Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Central Bank of Ireland
- 11:20am Question and Answer Session
- 11:35am Tea and Coffee break
Session 2: Monitoring Models of Good Practice
11:50am Overview of NDA’s monitoring functions and our advisory role on the European Accessibility Act (EEA) (2025)
Dr Donal Fitzptarick, Senior Advisor for the European Accessibility Act (EAA) (2025), National Disability Authority
12:00pm Panel discussion: Monitoring progress in providing universally designed and accessible public services
Chair: Dr Donal Fitzpatrick
Panellists:
Mary Tallant, Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, Part 3 of the Disability Act (2005) and the Irish Sign Language - ISL Act (2017), National Disability Authority
Niamh Fawl, Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, Part 5 of the Disability Act (2005), National Disability Authority
Aislinn Conway, Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, EU Web Accessibility Directive (WAD) (2020), National Disability Authority
- 12:40pm Question and Answers Session
Session 3: New NDA Guidance for Future Progress
Session Chair: Robert Murtagh, Senior Policy and Public Affairs Advisor, National Disability Authority
12:55pm Introduction - NDA’s Guidance to Support Non-Speaking and Minimally Speaking People to Access Public Services
April Parker, Policy and Public Affairs Advisor, National Disability Authority
13.05pm Introduction – NDA’s Guidance for Commissioning of Disability Training
Edward Crean, Policy and Public Affairs Advisor, National Disability Authority
- 13.15pm Questions and Answers Session
13.30pm Closing Remarks
Dr Aideen Hartney, Director, National Disability Authority
- 13:40pm Lunch and optional tour of the NDA’s renovated building
About our Speakers
Dr Aideen Hartney – Director, National Disability Authority (NDA)
Dr Aideen Hartney became Director (Chief Executive) of the National Disability Authority (NDA) in mid-2020, having joined the organisation in 2016 as its Head of Policy, Research and Public Affairs.
Aideen has a long career in overseeing research for the public good, having managed several major funded research programmes in University College Dublin, before coming to the NDA. She also has private sector experience following 7 years as a market research consultant. Aideen holds a doctorate in Ancient History and lectured for a time at the University of Bristol.
Aislinn Conway – Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Disability Authority
Aislinn Conway is Senior Standards & Monitoring Officer for the EU Web Accessibility Directive (WAD) and is based at the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, National Disability Authority (NDA). The NDA is the independent statutory body, which provides evidence-based advice and research to Government on disability policy and practice and promotes Universal Design. The NDA is named in Irish Regulations as the National Monitoring Body for the purposes of monitoring compliance with and reporting on the WAD.
She has a background as a knowledge translation specialist, health services researcher and information specialist. Her professional interests include: dissemination and implementation (practice and science), promoting evidence-informed policy and practice, disability issues, information literacy and continuous improvement.
April Parker – Policy and Public Affairs Advisor, National Disability Authority
April is a disabled woman from Laois. She has worked as a Policy and Public Affairs Advisor at the National Disability Authority since 2024. Previously, she was a research assistant at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at the University of Galway.
Brian Dalton – Senior Accessibility Test Lead, Fidelity Investments Ireland
My name is Brian Dalton, I’m a Senior Accessibility Test Lead with Fidelity Investments Ireland, ensuring that websites and mobile applications are accessible to users of assistive technology, such as screen reader users.
Making sure digital products and services are accessible to a wide range of users of assistive technology is something I’m passionate about.
I believe I am privileged to work in digital accessibility, as I’m a native screen reader user. technology is part of both my personal and professional life.
Currently I’m a board member of Child Vision, a national centre of excellence for blind and visually impaired children in Ireland.
Caitlin Cruise – Training & Accreditation Manager, AsIAM
Caitlin is the Training & Accreditation Manager with AsIAm, a qualified Early Years Educator and is Autistic herself. Caitlin delivers talks nationally about Autism, Neurodiversity and Disability, while contributing her own experiences as an Autistic adult in the workplace & growing up Autistic in Ireland. She has worked in supporting Autistic young people directly in Early Years & Teenage Years.
Caitlin has a passion for supporting members of the Autistic Community and helping non-Autistic people understand the Autistic Mind.
Caroline McGrotty – Accessibility Specialist / Access Officer, ESB
Caroline McGrotty is an Accessibility Specialist and Access Officer at ESB, where she supports customers and employees with disabilities and promotes accessibility in the workplace. With over 18 years of experience in the disability sector and the Deaf community, Caroline brings a wealth of expertise in accessibility, equality, and inclusive cultures.
Prior to joining ESB, Caroline was Employment Manager with AHEAD working with both public and multi-national employers on creating inclusive workplaces for people with disabilities through recruitment, training, and development of good-practice guidance. Caroline holds qualifications in Deaf Studies, Equality Studies, Irish Sign Language Teaching, and recently completed a Masters by Research in Deaf Education with DCU.
Dr. Donal Fitzpatrick – Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, NDA
Dr. Donal Fitzpatrick is the Senior Advisor for the European Accessibility Act (EAA) with the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) at the National Disability Authority (NDA). Dr. Fitzpatrick leads on the NDA’s activities in respect of the European Accessibility Act, including work on the revision of standard EN 301549, as well as NDA’s contribution to other key initiatives at a national and European level.
Dr. Fitzpatrick also engages in activities across the broader field of Universal Design for ICT products and services. He has a particular focus on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the lives of persons with disabilities.
Edward Crean – Policy and Public Affairs Advisor, National Disability Authority
Edward Crean is a Policy and Public Affairs Advisor with the National Disability Authority. Edward has over 20 years’ experience of working on legislation and policy in government departments and public bodies.
Heylove Robert Mark Sr. – Administration Assistant, Age Action Ireland (formerly Community Development Officer, Independent Living Movement Ireland)
Heylove Robert Mark Sr. is a disability activist with over 15 years of experience working with organisations of people with disabilities across West Africa. He currently serves as Administration Assistant with the National Volunteer Team at Age Action Ireland and previously worked as a Community Development Officer with Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI). He is studying Critical Disability Studies at Maynooth University, deepening his expertise in the politics of disability, independent living, and social inclusion.
Heylove is also an Assistive Technology Specialist and has collaborated with key disability organisations, including the West Africa Federation of the Disabled (WAFOD) and the National Union of Organizations for the Disabled (NUOD) in Liberia. He represented NUOD within the Liberia Elections Observation Network, where he advocated for the full inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in electoral processes.
Internationally, Heylove took part in the “Pandemic Portraits” Photovoice project in Bangladesh and Liberia, led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, which documented the lived experiences of people with disabilities and caregivers during COVID-19. He is eager to share his experience from engaging with people with disabilities in ILMI and supporting people with disabilities in direct provision in Ireland, helping them integrate and participate more fully in Irish society.
Kevin McCarthy – Secretary General, Department of Children, Disability and Equality
Kevin McCarthy is Secretary General of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. He took up his current role in January 2022.
As Secretary General, he has overall responsibility for the effective operation of the Department and for providing advice to the Minister in delivering on the Department’s mission and mandate to enhance the lives of people in Ireland by upholding rights, promoting equality of opportunity, recognising diversity and delivering supportive legislation, policies and services.
He previously served as Secretary General of the Department of Rural and Community Development from 2017 and as an Assistant Secretary General in the Department of Education from 2008 to 2017, where he held a number of senior leadership roles.
In the earlier part of his career he worked in a number of roles in the Departments of Health and Finance and in the health sector.
Liam McMunn – Environmental, Health and Safety Manager and Access Officer, Central Bank of Ireland
Liam McMunn is the Environmental, Health & Safety manager and Access Officer, at the Central Bank of Ireland with over 25 years’ experience in the safety, environmental and risk management industries. In his seventeen years at the Central Bank he has played a part in the organisation achieving multiple awards in occupational safety, sustainability and accessible design, as well as ISO certification across three different management system standards.
An advocate of continual improvement through progressive design, as well as shared learning, he has presented externally on the benefits of the universal design of the Bank’s Dockland Campus at North Wall Quay and spoken openly about his own mental health experience, to hundreds of colleagues at a number of internal Central Bank events.
Mary Tallant – Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Disability Authority
Mary is a Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer at the National Disability Authority (NDA). Mary’s responsibilities include monitoring the accessibility of public services and buildings, providing guidance to public bodies to improve their accessibility, and liaising with government departments to promote universal design. Mary leads on the NDA’s activities in respect of transport and the reporting of the Irish Sign Language Act.
Niamh Fawl – Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Disability Authority
Niamh Fawl is the Senior Standards and Monitoring Officer with the National Disability Authority (NDA). She also led out on the development and production of the NDA’s new Introductory e-learning module on disability equality.
Niamh manages the NDA’s statutory role in monitoring the employment of persons with disabilities in the public sector, as detailed under Part 5 of the Disability Act (2005). She is responsible for supervising and reporting on public bodies’ compliance with Part 5. In this capacity, she provides the public and private sectors with guidance on creating Equitable Diverse and Inclusive (EDI) work environments that have a clear focus on increasing the recruitment and retention of persons with disabilities and supporting employees to feel comfortable sharing their disability status.
Niamh also led out on the Review of the Part 5 process to determine how this process can be streamlined; capture richer data on the employment of persons with disabilities and guide continuous improvement across the public sector in creating and maintaining EDI work environments. This Review was published in 2022. Niamh also manages additional employment related projects. This is Niamh’s second term as the staff representative on the Authority.
Prior to working in the NDA, Niamh worked at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA and completed an MSc in Education Studies at the University of Oxford. She also managed the Young Playwrights’ Programme run by the former City Arts Centre in Moss Street Dublin. This national Programme supported students in secondary schools to write theatre plays that focused on increasing public awareness of persons with disabilities. Each year one play was selected for a professional theatre production and tour.
Robert Murtagh – Senior Policy and Public Affairs Advisor, National Disability Authority
Robert is a Senior Policy and Public Affairs Advisor with the National Disability Authority. He has worked in a number of organisations across the public and voluntary sectors in roles which have a focus on disability policy in areas such as employment, social protection and housing. Robert has been involved in many projects which promote accessible information and inclusive practices for people with disabilities.