The representative group for thousands of people with disabilities, their families and service providers is considering breaking off relations with the Government because it says the Disability Bill is "totally flawed".
The move follows a meeting between Frank Fahey, the Minister for State with responsibility for the legislation, and the Government-established Disability Legislation Consultation Group (DLCG) yesterday. It is an umbrella organisation for all the main groups working for the disabled.
In a statement yesterday, the group said it utterly deplored the Government's "intransigence and obduracy" in refusing to agree to major changes in the legislation.
"This is now a totally flawed and fundamentally inadequate piece of legislation. It fails to meet the needs of the disability sector and we are appalled that the Government is determined to ram it through the Oireachtas in the face of opposition from the very people it was originally designed to benefit," the group said.
The development comes as a blow for the Government, which had been anxious to maintain some support from sections of the disability sector for the legislation. The move is also likely to increase pressure on Ministers to agree to more substantial amendments.
The disability group is seeking a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and has called on the Cabinet to order a "complete reassessment" of its position on the Bill. It wants five key points to be addressed.
The group said: "If this legislation goes through without major changes on these points, the DLCG and its member organisations will be left with no option but to reassess our future relations and co-operation with Government departments and agencies. We may also consider a nationwide campaign to alert the general public to the failure of the Government to meet our legislative needs."
The points which the disability group wishes to see addressed include:
the need for a clear and unequivocal right to an assessment of need which must not be resource dependent;
services identified in the assessment of need for an individual must be provided within a reasonable and agreed timeframe;
a clear protection of disability - specific resources;
and a clear statutory duty on all Government departments and public bodies to include people with disabilities in their plans and services, with appropriate monitoring and accountability.
Mr Fahey was unavailable for comment, however, the Government says the Bill is framed so that resources and positive measures can be focused on people with disabilities who are most in need of services. Minister for Finance Brian Cowen pointed to a €900 million multi-annual funding package for the disability sector announced in the Budget.
