Access Cavan

Our Vision

We in Cavan County Council have an ambition for equality. We want our society to be fully inclusive and to enable everyone to participate fully in Cavan life. We recognise that realising this vision requires the active involvement of local people with disabilities, other public agencies and the private, voluntary and business sectors.

Our Mission

We intend to make sure that people with disabilities have full access to everything that is going on in County Cavan. To do that we have to embed a focus on accessibility into the way we work. We will work hard to ensure that:

• People with disabilities can participate equally and fully in the life of our county, and in decision-making in our Council.
• People with disabilities have full access to Cavan County Council services.
• Universal accessibility is central to our thinking in all our seruices and facilities.
• The needs of people with disabilities are consciously and deliberately considered in the way in which Cavan County Council does its business.
• We use our influence with other agencies and service providers in Cavan to make universal accessibility a reality in our county.

Our Core Values

Our core values for this strategy are grounded in the core values of our Council as outlined in Cavan County Council's Corporate Strategy. These values are quality customer service, staff resources, local democracy, sustainability, accountability, value for money and social inclusion. This Disability Strategy is one aspect of social inclusion that is being addressed by Cavan County Council. Cavan County Council's Social Inclusion Group will be addressing other key areas of exclusion.

Equality and independence

We base our approach on the social model of disability (see Key concepts and roles informing our strategy) and the principles of equality. We are committed to facilitating independent participation.

Working Together

Effective consultation with people with disabilities and their advocates is central to our approach. We can only achieve universal accessibility if we all work together.

In 2006 Cavan County Council set up the CRAIC Advisory Group, which represents people with all forms of disability. This group works strategically with the Council to help it to deliver its mission. lt provides opportunities for key decision-makers and policy-makers in the Council to actively listen to the concerns and opinions of people with disabilities.

We already enjoy positive relationships with other bodies, including the Equality Authority and the National Disability Authority. Developing these relationships further will help us to deliver this Strategy more effectively.

Quality accessible services

Cavan County Council is committed to delivering best quality customer services. We have learned that improvements made to services for people with disabilities can impact positively on service delivery for other excluded groups and for the public as a whole. We are committed to using best practice accessibility standards in the design, delivery and monitoring of services.