The Taoiseach must clarify his definition of "rights-based" disability legislation in the light of recent comments by the Minister for Justice, according to a law lecturer.
Mr Donncha O'Connell of NUI Galway's faculty of law warned yesterday of a "very difficult debate" ahead on the Disabilities Bill, 2003, if the comments made by the Minister, Mr McDowell, reflected Government intentions.
Mr O'Connell, who was speaking yesterday at a function organised by the Galway Centre for Independent Living, said the Minister's interpretation of rights-based legislation had been outlined at a youth and disability conference in Dublin Castle earlier this month. The Minister's speech was not widely reported.
In this speech, the Minister said that under the proposed legislation, a person would have his or her needs independently assessed, and the State would then be requested to provide for those needs.
"A deciding officer will be appointed within each public body to deal with that request," the Minister said.
"If the person is not happy with the deciding officer's decision, then an appeal to an independent appeals officer can be made. If a determination made by that officer is not being implemented then either the appeals officer or the individual concerned can go to court to have the order enforced.
"This will ensure that decisions made by the independent appeals officer will have the force of law. Of course, the deciding officer or the independent appeals officer will not take their decision in a vacuum. Issues such as the availability of resources and staff will be taken into account."
Mr O'Connell said it was clear that the Minister was not talking about a rights-based approach at all. "The giveaway is in the last sentence of the statement about available resources, and the idea that 'independent' deciding officers and appeals officers will be appointed within public bodies covered by the legislation is laughable," Mr O'Connell said.
"It is clear that a superstructure is being established to manage complaints from assertive people with disabilities, with the courts assigned the role of underwriting this pretence at a rights-based approach.
"Is the Minister seriously suggesting that the courts should have to enforce decisions by appeals officers that may well be unreasonable and unjust?"
It was now vital that the Taoiseach clarify the situation, he added. Mr O'Connell was addressing the opening of an assistive technology computer learning suite, established by Ms Gráinne Archer and staff at the Galway Centre for Independent Living.
The suite is the first of its type in the State, in that it has been designed for people with disabilities and is supported by the Bank of Ireland. The bank has 22 computer learning centres around the State, but the majority of these are for the unemployed.
The bank's own staff assist in providing training programmes and installing software.