The Government's Disability Bill "goes as far as legislation can reasonably be expected to go" in providing rights for people with disabilities, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, has said.reasonably be expected to go'
The controversial legislation had been underpinned by last week's Budget allocation for disability services, and the Government now had to "earn people's trust" in terms of providing same, the Minister said.
Mr Ó Cuív was speaking in Galway yesterday at the publication of a national training programme drawn up by the Forum for People with Disabilities. The Claiming Our Rights initiative aims to empower people with disabilities through education and information on equality and rights-related issues.
The 2½ year training programme will begin in April next year and aims to train communities to claim their rights through statutory channels and through lobbying and campaigning. Ms Mary Keogh of the Forum for People with Disabilities said the programme recognised the majority of 342,000 people with disabilities, or just over 8 per cent of the population, in Ireland were not aware of their rights, and did not possess the knowledge and skills to advocate effectively on their own behalf and influence policymakers, legislators and service providers. There continued to be an over-reliance on "institutionalisation" of people with disabilities, she said.
After the training programme, participants would co-operate and engage with wider groups, Ms Keogh said. "Ultimately whole communities of disabled people will be empowered to speak up for equal rights at home, at work and in the community." The forum, which is run by and for people with disabilities, welcomes the "spirit" of the Government's National Disability Strategy and the multi-annual funding element, Ms Keogh said. "But we have to be realistic that the promised funding is not enforceable in law by the Disabilities Bill being discussed in the Dáil at present,"" she said.
"The Claiming Our Rights programme aims to secure that, irrespective of any changes in political will, there will be a new generation of disabled people in Ireland who will know their rights and who will have the skill to exercise them."
The Minister said the Bill was "very advanced" in terms of comparable legislation. In his view, the "real element" was the commitment to develop adequate services, but these could only be established incrementally over time, he said. The major funding plan in the Budget represented the "last piece of the jigsaw".
Ms Keogh said a breakdown of the Government's promised funding showed that it was inadequate. "For instance, 200,000 hours of 24-hour home support services as promised by the Government next year gives just 23 people such a service nationwide," she said. "The funding for an 8-hour service will give just 36 people assistance annually." Mr Ó Cuív, welcomed the training programme at yesterday's event in the Galway Westside Community Centre, which was attended by the Mayor of Galway, Cllr Catherine Connolly, and the Labour TD for Galway West, Mr Michael D. Higgins. The forum said it had invited the Minister of State for Equality issues, Mr Frank Fahey, to undertake yesterday's function and was disappointed he was unavailable.
The National Parents and Siblings' Alliance (NPSA) also said that the Budget funding package and the National Disability Strategy would be a wasted opportunity unless the Government was prepared to underpin the process with legislation that was "satisfactory" and provided for "proper monitoring and accountability for the money invested in the process".
Mr Séamus Greene of the NPSA welcomed the promise of a multi-annual package aimed at reducing current waiting lists. However, "the experience of the Cowen Plan (2000-2003) was that a lot of what was promised never happened", he said.
"While money was provided for over 900 residential places, less than half these were actually created. We need to know what measures will be in place to ensure that the total number stated on the Budget will actually be created."
