The Government has announced it will amend the Disability Bill to reflect the concerns of lobby groups representing the disabled.
The Government agreed to the changes at a Cabinet meeting this morning, where Minister for State for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ms Mary Wallace outlined complaints by various groups involved and proposed a number of changes to the Bill.
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Ms Mary Wallace
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These include the removal of the controversial Section 47 of the legislation, which would bar the disabled from taking civil actions to vindicate their rights.
Ms Wallace said that other provisions would be added to the Bill, specifically dealing with independent assessment of need, appeals and enforcement. She added that further discussions about the nature of the new provisions are to be held over the coming weeks.
The General Secretary of the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland (NAMHI), Ms Deirdre Carroll has welcomed this evening’s announcement, but says that the groups involved will have to sit down and examine the changes thoroughly before making a full assessment.
The announcement came ahead of a mass meeting in Dublin tonight to protest at aspects of the Disability Bill, has gone ahead because, according to Ms Carroll, there were aspects of the Bill which still haven’t been dealt with.
"It will also give people the opportunity to react to the announcement," said Ms Carroll.
The Bill was to begin its passage through the Oireachtas on Thursday. It sets out the phased improvement of services for the disabled from January 2003, including better access to public services, transport, health and social services.
Earlier today, the Labour Party leader Mr Ruairi Quinn called on opposition parties to mount a "full scale onslaught" on the Bill to have it withdrawn completely. He said he had written to Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan and other opposition TDs suggesting a campaign of "outright opposition".
Tonight Mr Quinn described the announcement as a "humiliating climbdown" by the Government. He said his party wanted a constitutional amendment on disabilities rights and that this was a pre-requisite for Labour entering any coalition government after the next election.
Fine Gael also welcomed the decision. The party’s equality spokeswoman, Ms Frances Fitzgerald said it was a "spectacular u-turn" that had severely undermined Ms Wallace's credibility.
She claimed the Minister had "capitulated" because of the forthcoming election and as such, this was "a blatant example of cynical politics."