It should be to the eternal shame of 21st century Ireland that the parents of an intellectually disabled boy could only contemplate death for themselves and their son "rather than leave him to the vagaries of a State care system in which they have no faith", the Dáil was told.
Opening a private members' debate, Fine Gael's disability spokesman, Mr David Stanton, demanded that the Government immediately publish the Disability Bill and hold a summit of all stakeholders in the disability movement.
Accusing the Government of having "no strategy for people with disabilities, no national plan, no rights to legislation", he said the recent RTÉ Prime Time programme showed the "stark reality of lack of basic services for children with intellectual disability and lack of respite care and other supports for their families".
Mr Stanton said there had been "enough debate, discussion and consultation for the past eight years" and the bill should be published now.
However, the Minister of State for Justice, Mr Willie O'Dea, said it would be published "at the earliest possible opportunity. I do not accept the allegations of a delay. There is no plot to delay the bill," he said.
There was real work going on across a range of Departments to deliver two bills. He said the Disability Bill would establish entitlements to assessment of need, to services set out in a related service statement and to redress if the assessment or the services were not provided.
"The bill cannot ignore that funding and resources are finite and so services will grow as budgetary and staffing constraints are overcome. This approach is grounded in reality and deals with the actual delivery of tangible results."
Fine Gael's health spokeswoman, Ms Olivia Mitchell, said that "nothing ever seems to happen, nothing ever seems to change, nothing ever seems to get better", and so many disabled people lived "a half life". No issue had been the subject of more private members' debates than disability, she said.
Labour's Education spokeswoman, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, said that "if we were to introduce a comprehensive set of rights for people with disabilities, it wouldn't bankrupt the State. It would challenge the system to respond appropriately and it would not be before time."
The "biggest betrayal" of the past seven years by the Government was the betrayal of constituents with disabilities, Mr Tommy Broughan (Lab, Dublin North-East) claimed.
