Physically and mentally handicapped people are being housed in institutions that are "an affront to humanity and entirely unsuitable", Labour leader Mr Pat Rabbitte has declared in the wake of the report on the Drumcar home.
The St Mary's home in Drumcar, Co Louth, in which patients are routinely put into strait-jackets and which is chronically under-staffed, "is not the only one" to be suffering major problems, he said.
The Government had made "endless commitments" to invest significantly in St Ita's Portrane, Co Dublin, which has 350 residents and "which is an affront to humanity and entirely unsuitable", declared Mr Rabbitte.
"The investment hasn't happened, and St Ita's is still being used as a place of last resort for emergency situations.
"A woman was admitted there in the past fortnight because there was nowhere else for her to go," he said.
The Government's €13 million 2003 spending on physical and mentally handicapped services will only cover the cost of services introduced last year. "This was the first time in my political memory that not a single penny extra was allocated."
Before the general election, the Government had to withdraw disability legislation because it did not offer access to services for the disabled as "a right".
"A tortuous period of consultation has ensued, with no progress towards a Bill," Mr Rabbitte said.
"I understand there is now a position paper emanating from the National Disability Authority suggesting that legislation might make a distinction between 'essential' services, to which there would be a right, and 'desirable' services, towards which there would be progressive implementation.
"Even assuming it were possible to draft legislation of that kind, it's not hard to imagine how cheated people with disabilities would feel," he went on, particularly given promises made in the aftermath of the Sinnott judgment.
The number of occupational therapists was "artificially low" because Trinity College, Dublin, is the only place training them. "It's more or less a closed shop and as a result there are huge demands," he said.
The protest today by some disability groups at the launch of the European Year for People with Disabilities was backed last night by Fine Gael TD, Ms Olivia Mitchell, who warned that the crisis facing disabled people would only get worse.
Not one extra residential place has been created in the greater Dublin region, yet emergency admissions have to be made as elderly carers die, she said.
"Unless more money is provided this situation is unsustainable," she warned, adding that health boards have been told to balance their budgets.
Supporting today's protests, Sinn Féin Cavan/Monaghan TD, Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said existing services cannot be maintained given the Government's 2003 spending plans.
Progress has been made and acknowledged in recent years but the savage cut in the Budget allocated to the health boards for mentally handicapped services was a total disgrace, said Mr Ó Caoláin. "It will mean longer waiting lists," he declared.
