People with Disabilities in Ireland
4th Floor Jervis House
Jervis Street
Dublin 1
Telephone: 01 87 21 74 4
Fax: 01 87 21 77 1
Email: info@pwdi.ie
People with Disabilities in Ireland (PwDI), the national organisation representing all people with disabilities said today, through its Chairman, Nigel Brander:
“We are at the 11th hour, the clock is ticking but all may not yet be lost. The Taoiseach has agreed to meet the Disability Legislation Consultative Group (DLCG, of which PwDI is a member) and Minister Fahy has agreed to again look at one of the key areas of concern to representative groups.
“Within the DLCG we are still waiting for the wording for the optional appeals mechanism, using an Ombudsman instead of an appeals officer employed by the Health Services Executive.”
The Bill reaches report stage in the Dáil this week and it will then enter the Seanad.
“We are pinning our hopes now that something meaningful can be rescued,” says Mr Brander.
“If it is not, the substantial additional funds allocated by the Government for disability - €420m this year and a further €900m between 2006 and 2009, will go into more of the same, that is, propping up an uncoordinated and inefficient system where resources get eaten up by the system rather than effecting real changes in the lives of people with disabilities by putting into place the desperately needed services.”
One in every 10 or 400,000 people in Ireland have a disability.
PwDI, along with a range of other groups across the sector say that the Disability Bill in its current form is riddled with opt outs with constant references to `where practicable’ and `where possible’.
“Whilst we welcome some of the amendments, a lot have not gone far enough, for example the definition of disability is still a major concern to us,” says Mr Brander.
He highlights Section 10 (10) on providing unmet needs, by way of example:
“Following the comprehensive assessment of need there is no obligation whatever on health authorities, in the event that they cannot provide a particular service in year one, to do so in the subsequent year.”
“This Bill has all the hallmarks of a safe administrator. It is not in the real world,” says Mr Brander.
Further information:
Michael Ringrose 087-2804590
Mairead Foley 086-2556764
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