THE EVENT HAS BEEN OVERBOOKED. THERE IS NO CAPACITY FOR HOPEFUL PARTICIPANTS WHO HAVE NOT ALREADY BOOKED A PLACE TO BE ADMITTED TO THE CONFERENCE ON THE DAY.

Event fee includes lunch and refreshments.

We are delighted that both Deputy Emer Higgins, Minister of State with responsibility for Disability and Dr Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children, will speak at the conference. 

The Disability Special Interest Group (SWID) was established as a forum for social workers engaged in all areas of disability services. Membership includes practitioners from Children’s Network Disability Teams, adult disability services, hospitals such as the NRH, and voluntary agencies.

This full day event will focus on recognising the right of children and adults with disabilities to be decision-makers in their own lives. We will explore active participation by children with disabilities in choices and decisions about their lives and services, and promote the will and preference of adults with disabilities examining what this means for Social Work practice.

Social Workers in Disability work in partnership with people with disabilities, their families, carers, colleagues and service providers. Our role is to advocate, assess needs and barriers, coordinate services, provide emotional and practical support, and empower individuals to enhance their quality of life and live more independently.

PROGRAMME

9.00     Registration, tea/coffee and scones

10.00   Conference Welcome - SWID chair Mary Lynch

10.10   Strengthening Children’s Voices in Decision‑Making Beth Ferguson, Hub na nÓg, Deirdre Reidy, DCDE & Sarah Page, Senior Social Worker, Coastal CDNT

10.50   The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 - the intention, the interpretation and the practice Caoimhe Gleeson & Joanne Haffey, HSE

11.30   Emer Higgins, TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Disability

11.40   Applying ADM legislation: A Practice-Based Exploration of Functional Assessment and Reflective Practice Eilís O’Connor & Sarah Whelan

12.10   Q & A

12.30 – 1.30 Lunch

1.30    Letting Pride take Flight: Building a Safe LGBT Community for Adults with an Intellectual Disability Maria Gates, Lisa Flanagan & Bród Butterflies, Prosper Fingal

2.10   Dr Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children

2.40   Empowering voices through engaged research: examples from research involving people with intellectual disabilities Eilin De Paor – Clinical Manager, St Michael’s House

3.10   Q&A

3.30   A Personal Reflection - My story as a child with a disability in institutional care  Mary Lynch, Chair, SWID 

3.55    Closing remarks -  Caroline Strong, COO IASW

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Lisa Flanagan is Senior social worker in Prosper Fingal, a section 39 agency that supports adults with an intellectual disability. Lisa  has worked in child protection and has over 20 years experience in the field of intellectual disability.  Lisa has been facilitating Relationship and Sexuality Education in the area of intellectual disability for 18 years and completed a course in Sexuality and Relationship Education with Callan Institute in 2016.  Lisa also completed the LGBT Ireland Champions training in 2022 and has a keen interest in developing supports in this area for adults with an intellectual disability.

Maria Gates is a Senior Social Worker in Prosper Fingal, a section 39 agency that supports adults with an intellectual disability.  Maria is an experienced social worker having worked in a variety of fields including mental health both child and adult; medical social work and child protection. Maria has over 20 years experienced in the field of intellectual disability. She has also been facilitating Sexuality and Relationship Education with adults with an intellectual disabilities for over 9 years.  Maria completed the LGBT Ireland Champions training in 2022 and this gave her the skills and knowledge to develop supports for the LGBT community in the field of intellectual disability.  Maria will be co-presenting with service users on a LGBT Social Group for adults with an intellectual disability.

In 2023, Maria and Lisa, in collaboration with service users, established Bród Butterflies, an LGBT Social Group for adults with an intellectual disability. Bród Butterflies is a Dublin based group providing opportunities for service users to build friendships and connect with romantic partners in a safe and inclusive space. The group meets approximately every 2 months in Outhouse LGBTQ+ centre in Dublin city centre. The group is open to adults with an intellectual disability in the wider Dublin area. This small but mighty group took part in the Drogheda Pride Parade in 2025 and the group hopes to grow and build more connections over time.

Caoimhe Gleeson is General Manager for the National Office for Human Rights and Equality Policy at the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Barrister at Law. Caoimhe represents the HSE on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group (IDSG) for the implementation of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015. 

Caoimhe is deputy chair of the National Research Ethics Committee for Clinical Trials. She is a board member of the CORU Social Workers Registration Board. She is a member of the ethics committee for the NDA research on ‘The journey from wardship to supported decision making’.

Caoimhe is a PhD law candidate in UCC. Her research interests include analysing the impact of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 in relation to substituted decision making and maximising the voice of the person in legal settings. 

Joanne Haffey is a Senior Project Manager in the National Office for Human Rights and Equality Policy, HSE. Joanne is responsible for work relating to assisted decision making and capacity, leading on the delivery of in-person training on the functional assessment of capacity. Joanne has 20 years’ experience working in Irish health and social care settings. Joanne brings an array of experience as a professionally qualified social worker, having spent much of her career working in services for people with disabilities.

In 2018 Joanne began working for the HSEs National Independent Review Panel (NIRP) as the service manager, where she coordinated and managed comprehensive independent reviews into serious concerns within the HSE and HSE funded services. In 2022 Joanne joined the HSE’s office of the National Clinical Director of Quality Patient Safety as the Senior Operations Manager, gaining significant experience in the operational management of a national HSE office.

Joanne holds a Bachelor of Social Studies (BSS), National Qualification in Social Work (NQSW), CORU registration, a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Management and Masters in Health Care Management.

At the centre of Joanne’s practice and approach to work are the rights of people in receipt of health and social care services. Joanne is passionate about the voice of the person being at the centre of what we do.

Hub na nÓg is a national centre of excellence and coordination in children and young people’s participation in decision-making. We support government departments, state agencies, public service, and non-government organisations in providing opportunities for children and young people to participate in decision-making, with a particular focus on those that are seldom-heard.

Deirdre Reidy is an Assistant Principal Officer in the Participation, Play and Recreation Unit in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.  This includes responsibility for Hub na nÓg, the national centre of excellence on giving children and young people a voice in decision-making and the implementation of the Participation of Children and Young People in Decision-Making: Action Plan 2024–2028.

Beth Ferguson is the Senior Development and Research Officer at Hub na nÓg, where she works to develop and document innovative national and international good practice on children and young people’s participation in decision-making.

Mary Lynch is Principal Social Worker with Horizons Cork ( formerly Cope Foundation) She has been a social worker in the area of disability for 28+ years in several different disability organisations. She has worked to support and advocate for children and adults with intellectual disabilities  and their families in a variety of roles. She has also worked as a social worker  in fostering and in medical social work prior to this.

She is the current chair of SWID and is also active with the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies.

Her presentation will touch on her lived experience of institutional care for 3 years, due to a disability, and how this translates into keeping the voices of the children and adults we support and their families as the lodestar for all we do.

Eilis O’Connor qualified as a social worker 23 years ago and has worked as a Principal Social Worker in Tusla (Dublin and Louth-Meath) and as a PSW for Primary Care Social Work (Louth Meath).

Since 2024, Eilis is the ADMCA Lead with the Louth Hospitals group. Eilis’ role is to provide information guidance and support to all hospital staff on how to apply the guiding principles of the ADMCA in their interactions and interventions with patients of the service. Eilis provides training and information on the HSE National Consent Policy; particularly when there is a concern about a patient’s capacity to consent and/or refuse an intervention.

As part of her role, Eilis completes functional capacity assessments when there is a concern about a patient’s capacity to make specific decisions. Eilis also takes the lead in coordinating complex case management where there are capacity and consent issues that warrant legal advice/court applications.

Sarah Page is a Senior Social Worker on the Coastal Children’s Disability Network Team, where she has worked for the past three years. She has 16 years of experience in child protection and fostering with TUSLA, supporting children in care and their foster families through assessment, placement planning, ongoing support, and advocacy. In her current role, she works with children with complex disabilities and their families, providing support and counselling, advocacy, group facilitation, and assistance in adjusting to a diagnosis and accessing wider HSE services, including home care and respite. Sarah has completed the Hub na nÓg training on child and youth participation in decision-making in 2025, reflecting her commitment to child-centred, strengths-based, and rights-focused practice.

Eilín de Paor BSc(OT), MSc (Dev.Dis.), PhD, M.A.O.T.I. is a Corú-registered Occupational Therapist and a Clinical and Research Manager with almost 30 years’ work experience in the Irish health and disability service sector. She currently works with St Michael’s House services in Dublin and has recently completed a PhD through the Centre for Disability Studies (CDS), University College Dublin (UCD) School of Psychology.

Eilín’s research interests include engaged and practice-related research, research ethics, universal design in research, transition from school to adult life, and social inclusion. In her clinical practice, she has managed various interdisciplinary staff teams, served on operational and strategic groups at organisational and regional levels, and participated in the design and evaluation of services, policies and practice. Her particular clinical and management interests lie in the areas of: engagement with and empowerment of those using services, ethical practice, oversight of restrictive practices, interdisciplinary teamwork, clinical pathways, supervision, individualised planning and supports, and multi-agency collaboration.

Eilín was Chair of the St Michael’s House Research Ethics Committee (REC) from 2015 to 2021 and member of a study-specific REC convened by the Irish National Disability Authority (2022-2025). She has provided guest lecturer inputs to the UCD CDS since 2016 and was Adjunct Assistant Professor with the Centre (2019-21). She has previously served on the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland Conference Committee (2000-5) and ID Advisory Group Committee (2001-5) and was editor of the Irish Journal of Occupational Therapy (1998-2000).

Sarah Whelan is a Principal Social Worker in Adult Disability services in St Michael’s House. Her experience in disability services over 25 years has allowed for an opportunity to work with both children and adults, their families and caregivers. Sarah has a particular interest in ADMC legislation and the shift it offers in supporting people in the decisions relevant to their lives. Sarah believes that ADMC legislation allows for a strong Social Work / Social Care voice in amplifying the principles of the Act. 

Sarah believes that there is a role for Social Work to question, advocate, assess and apply nuance to all ADMC discussions Sarah has undertaken capacity assessments for part 5 applications under the act and for statutory reviews in the circuit court. Sarah has been a Decision Making Representative on the Decision Support Service Panel since 2023.