About the conference

The Annual Conference 2018 was entitled “Achieving Better Outcomes for Persons with a Disability: using data as a tool to guide policy and practice” and provided an opportunity to share valuable Irish and international experience in successfully transferring the knowledge gained via modern data analysis methods to the informing and implementation of practical policies that benefit persons with disabilities.

The conference was a full day in-person event and included the following sessions and speakers;

Plenary Session

Chairperson: Dr. Gurchand Singh, Chief Information Officer, Department of Justice & Equality

  • Opening Address: Oonagh McPhillips, Deputy Secretary-General, Department of Justice & Equality
  • The role of IGEES in bringing data analysis together across Government: Jasmina Behan/ Chris Boyle, Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
  • An Indicator Set for Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures: Dr. Claire Finn, Head of Research and Evaluation, Department of Children and Youth Affairs / Nicola Tickner, Statistician, Department of Children and Youth Affairs
  • Data sources on disability: Eoin Whelan, Social Policy Analysis, CSO
  • Assistive technology - Norwegian experience: Ola Nyland: Department for Assistive Technology, Norway

Afternoon Session

  • Targeting Frailty to Prevent Disability: Insights from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)
    Dr Aisling O’Halloran, Senior Research Fellow with the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), Trinity College
  • The development of the Danish Gold Indicators and how they have been used to promote the rights set out in the UNCRPD
    Nikolaj Nielsen, Team Leader Disability, Danish Institute for Human Rights

Conference Close: Siobhan Barron, Director, National Disability Authority