Hundreds of disabled people and campaigners will meet in the RDS, Dublin, today to call for the redrafting or rejection of the Government's Disability Bill.
At the meeting, to be chaired by the president of the Human Rights Commission, Dr Maurice Manning, organisers will propose amendments to the Bill and call on the Government to engage in immediate "meaningful" discussions in relation to the measure.
The organisers say they are incensed by the Bill, which they claim confers no real rights on disabled people and ignores legislative recommendations proposed by disability experts over a year-long consultation process with Government officials.
Their concerns centre on issues such as the definition of disability, complaints procedures and limitations on funding for services.
The Rights Make the Difference group, an alliance of at least 12 disability and equality groups, is to seek amendments to the Bill in 10 key areas.
The group's spokesman, Mr Séamus Greene, said: "When they published the Disability Bill 2004 in September, the Government promised resources to secure matters described in the legislation. Budget 2005 revealed yet another empty promise and confirmed the Bill as fundamentally flawed.
"The organisers of this meeting are outraged by Government's rush to push the Bill through, with scant regard for the considerations and feelings of vulnerable disabled people and their families."
The Bill is currently being debated in the Dáil and is likely to take several months before it is enacted.
The Government has not yet indicated whether it is open to significant amendments to the measure.
Mr Greene said successive governments had promised legislation to secure the rights of all disabled people. He described the latest Bill as another missed opportunity.
Among the 12 disability and equality groups helping to organise the meeting are the National Parents' and Siblings Alliance, the National Association of the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland and the Forum on people with Disabilities.
The meeting takes place at 7.30 p.m. today in the Concert Hall, RDS, Merrion Road.
