An independent audit of all Government spending on disability should be carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General, according to representatives of people with disabilities, writes Paul Cullen.
Most of the €1.3 billion in additional funding earmarked for the disabled between 2005 and 2009 will be absorbed by service providers, People with Disabilities in Ireland has warned.
"It is imperative that the extra resources are properly targeted to ensure that they make a real impact on the daily lives of the 400,000 people with disabilities in Ireland," said Mr Michael Ringrose, chief executive of the organisation.
"If we are to achieve that, service providers must not use the extra resources to provide for themselves before they provide for their clients - people with disabilities."
Mr Ringrose was speaking at a seminar held yesterday to mark the International Day of Disabled Persons.
He said that funding must be delivered to agreed standards, as proposed by the National Disability Authority.
He also called for the creation of a clearly-identified authority which would have overall responsibilty for co-ordinating and delivering services.
"Currently, this is done in an unco-ordinated manner, and data on spending is not collated in a systematic way. This results in gross inefficiencies, and best benefit is not achieved."
Yesterday's seminar was part of a series being hosted by People with Disabilities in Ireland at which local authorites are explaining the progress they have achieved on the Barcelona Declaration, a European convention on acessibility.
Meanwhile, Enable Ireland yesterday called on employers to hire more people with disabilities.
The organisation, which provides services for people with disabilities, pointed out that unemployment rates among disabled people are close to 70 per cent, compared to 5 per cent in the rest of the population.