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 Ireland in Ireland (PwDI), which represents 360,000 people nationwide, today welcomed the imminent publication of the long-awaited Disabilities Bill.
PwDI Chief Executive Michael Ringrose said he hoped the Bill would enshrine the core elements contained in the report of the Disability Legislation Consultation Group entitled 'Equal Citizens' published recently.
"The key principles that are needed to give statutory authority to the rights of people with disabilities must be enshrined in this Bill,"
he said. "It is important that we get the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas as early as possible but it is equally important that we get it right."
Mr Ringrose said effective legislation for people with disabilities needs to combine two approaches, firstly, positive rights that can be enforceable by individuals and secondly, duties and requirements placed on public and private bodies that are providing services to the public, aimed at removing barriers to full participation of people with disabilities in society.
The PwDI Chief Executive called for a full and thorough debate on the legislation and said he hoped the Minister responsible, Willie O'Dea TD, would accept any constructive and worthwhile amendments put forward by the Opposition.
People with Disabilities Ireland (PwDI) is the representative body for all disabilities. It is the first fully funded and fully independent campaigning lobby group of people with disabilities in Ireland. The organisation is structured from the bottom up with representatives being elected or nominated at local network level.
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