The chief executive of the National Rehabilitation Board has called for a constitutional amendment to protect the disabled from discrimination.
Dr Arthur O'Reilly said yesterday that this should precede the introduction of a Disability Act, which has been promised by the Government.
The Equal Status Bill, which outlaws discrimination against nine categories of people, including those with disability, was referred back to the Oireachtas by the Supreme Court two years ago because some of its provisions were found to be contrary to the property rights guaranteed in the Constitution. It was then redrafted.
The new Bill, which covers the provision of goods and services, is expected to become law this year. Dr O'Reilly believes a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the rights of people with disabilities is needed to protect such legislation from constitutional challenge in the future.
New arrangements for support for people with disabilities should be reviewed and altered if they do not work as planned, Dr O'Reilly said earlier this month.
He was speaking at a conference in Dublin, "Disability - Challenges and Changes", the last major public event hosted by the NRB. Early next year its functions will be devolved.
The training function will go to FAS; its services for people with a hearing disability to the health boards, the psychology service to the Department of Education; its advocacy role to a new organisation, Comhairle; and in spring 2000, a new National Disability Authority will be set up.
Dr O'Reilly said this should try to ensure that standards were set for all services for people with disabilities.
It should ensure that any organisation which failed to meet these standards should have any public money it received stopped.
Asked why a Disability Authority was necessary when the Equality Authority had a brief to deal with discrimination against people with disabilities, Dr O'Reilly said: "I would see the two agencies working hand in hand. The Disability Authority could be drawing the attention of the Equality Authority to certain things. All organisations should complement each other."
Mr Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, said: "There is a challenge to coherence there. There is a big challenge to ensure that the resources are deployed to best effect."
Dr O'Reilly said there was also a job for the Disability Authority in setting standards for wages and conditions in sheltered workshops, which would continue to exist for those with the kind of disabilities which prevented them from working in the open labour market.
Dr Pauline Conroy, who also addressed the conference, said it was necessary for unions and employers to clarify what remunerated labour was. Those working in sheltered workshops and paid, for example, for 15 hours a week, were not regarded as engaged in remunerated labour and could not contribute to their own pensions.
She said that there were 37 million people in Europe with a declared disability, about 10 per cent of its population. "Disability keeps changing," she said. "The changes taking place in Ireland reflect the new thinking in Europe."