Launch and reaction: Disability law in the Republic of Ireland will far exceed international norms once the Government's latest plans are enforced, the Taoiseach has said. Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, reports.
Surrounded by six Cabinet Ministers and one Minister of State, Mr Ahern yesterday insisted that the Disability Bill would dramatically improve the lives of thousands.
The Government, he said, currently spent €2.5 billion annually on the disabled, along with a further €1.3 billion on social welfare payments.
He was unable to put a figure on the extra resources that would be spent over the next five years, pointing out that Budget negotiations were still under way.
However, the Government was prepared to create a five-year plan for capital spending and, for the first time, for current-spending promises for the disabled.
Questioned about the rights of the disabled to go to courts in future, Mr Ahern said: "No one really wants to go to court unless they really have to."
Under the Government's plan, the disabled will have the right to an independent assessment of need and subsequently a clearly list of services to be enjoyed.
The assessment plan would be drafted without reference to the ability of a health board or body to fund the services required, he said.
"There isn't direct access to a court at that point, because that would not be an effective use of resources," the Taoiseach said.
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste and Progressive Democrats leader, Ms Harney, said the legislation would offer security and predictability to the disabled.
"We have come an awful long way since the Commission for the People with Disabilities in 1996," she said.
"We have moved the cause of disabilities on to a new plane. We have got to provide the resources. Thankfully, our society because of our economic success is generating the kind of resources to be able to raise the benchmark as far as people with disabilities and their families are concerned," she said.
Ms Harney said the Government had sought in this legislation to live up to the highest possible international standards.
"I believe that those who have advocated \ for quite some time will see in this legislation an honest attempt to get it right, and that is why it has taken so long," she went on.
"Today is an important staging post in creating a fairer, more equal, more accessible society and genuinely living up to the high ideals of this Republic.
However it was still just a staging post, the Tánaiste said. "We have still a long way to go to ensure that the ambitions and aspirations of people are met, not just with legislation, but that the real living lives of people, ordinary people, will see a huge transformation."
Fine Gael TD Ms Olivia Mitchell offered the Bill "a guarded welcome" although she warned that "tangible lasting benefits" would require major State spending.