The forthcoming Disability Bill will be rights-based and will establish an ombudsman for the disabled who will vindicate those rights, according to Minister of State Mr Tim O'Malley.
Mr O'Malley, the Minister of State responsible for the disability issue, said on RTÉ's Prime Time programme last night that the Bill would allow for an assessment of the needs of all people with disabilities. There would then be a decision on what people were entitled to and "if their rights are not given to them within a reasonable period of time, then the ombudsman would adjudicate on it and the rights would have to be given".
The issue of whether it will be rights-based has been controversial. Disability groups want rights enshrined in law allowing them to go to court if those rights are not made available to them.
However Ministers, notably the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, believe that social rights imposing an economic cost on the State should not be written into law but granted or withheld by the government of the day.