Disability groups protest as Bill is passed

Over 500,000 people had expressed concern about the Disability Bill, the Dáil was told. The Bill passed all stages despite Opposition criticism of its guillotining by the Government.

Disability groups protested outside Leinster House yesterday as TDs debated the measure.

The claim about public concern was made by Finian McGrath (Ind, Dublin North Central), who said there should be a clear and unequivocal right to an assessment of need which would not be resource-dependent.

"Of all households headed by a person with a disability, 54.4 per cent live below the 60 per cent poverty line. While the national rate of unemployment has fallen below 4.6 per cent, it is estimated that at least 70 per cent of people with disabilities are unemployed."

Mr McGrath said people with disabilities had to meet the extra costs of having a disability. The Bill was an opportunity not only to bring people into the mainstream of society, but to deal with the issue of the interaction of poverty and disability.

Minister of State for Justice Frank Fahey said he was satisfied the Bill supported the right to an assessment.

"Any person who considers that he or she has a disability can apply for assessment as outlined in the Bill. Those who apply for an independent assessment will, therefore, receive one."

Mr Fahey emphasised the unequivocal right to an independent assessment of need. He said the Bill clearly provided for the first time that the Minister must state at the beginning of the year the amount of money to be provided for disability services.

"Like all other types of legislation that cannot be ring-fenced, but given the practicality of a statement being transparent, clearly outlining the amount of money to be provided at the end of the year, and given that there is a multi-annual funding programme, unless there was an absolute catastrophe there is no reason to believe the money provided would not be spent."

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) said the Opposition was trying earnestly to rescue "this flawed legislation". He added that he spoke as the sibling of a man with Down syndrome with the need for occasional respite care and, in his middle and later years, residential care and support.

"I have watched parents turn the order of things on its head in prayers asking that their children be taken before their time. They feared, as the years advanced, what the future would hold for their special-needs children after their parents died. It is a terrible thing and it is the reality for families the length and breadth of Ireland."

Mr Ó Caoláin warned that the legislation would devastate many ageing parents who would feel on its enactment they had no further opportunity to make the critical difference in the interests of their special-needs loved ones.

Paddy McHugh (Ind, Galway East) said the notion that the assessment was dependent on resources was the nub of the issue because there was a history of neglect of the disabled.

"This is not a reflection on this Government alone. It reflects on successive governments."