The Standards Commission is an independent statutory body. We share offices with the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Office of the Environmental Information Commissioner, the Commission for Public Service Appointments, and the Referendum Commission (when established). The Office of the Ombudsman provides the secretariat for the Standards Commission.
The offices are together referred to as “the Office” in this section of the website.
If you have a difficulty accessing information on this site, please contact our access officer at accessofficer@sipo.ie.
As a public body, the organisation must comply with sections 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the Disability Act 2005. It must ensure:
The Office has policies and strategies in place to meet our requirements as a public body under the Disability Act 2005.
We also strive to ensure our website meets the following technical standards:
A person may make a complaint to our personnel officer, under section 38 of the Act, if they believe we have failed to comply with sections 25, 26, 27 or 28 of the Act. The personnel officer will refer the matter to an inquiry officer.
If you are making a complaint about the accessibility of our services, and you need help to do so, contact our access officer for assistance.
Section 27 of the Disability Act 2005 says: “Where a service is provided to a public body, the head of the body shall ensure that the service is accessible to persons with disabilities”.
This applies to both providing services and supplying goods. It means that section 27 requires public bodies to ensure that any goods or services it acquires are accessible to people with disabilities, unless it is not feasible, too costly, or would cause an unreasonable delay. This section applies when tendering for equipment, materials, information technology, conference facilities, and so on.
Our objective is to achieve the highest standard of accessibility as possible for people with disabilities, within reason. Our policy is to ensure that relevant accessibility requirements for people with disabilities are included in all stages of the tender process. We have adopted the following procedures:
1) Built Environment
Our office is located at 18 Lower Leeson Street. Works have been carried out at the building to provide for:
2) Availability of Expertise
Under section 26(1)(c) of the Disability Act 2005, a public body must have expertise and skills available to advise it on making its services. The National Disability Authority’s “Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information provided by Public Bodies” says “such expertise can be made available within the organisation or, where appropriate, sourced externally”.
Disability awareness training has been provided to all members of staff. We have also compiled a database of contact details, costs and the notice needed for companies providing: