IRISH WHEELCHAIR ASSOCIATION
Disability Bill – 85 TD's say YES,
500,000 people say NO
Can
this be justice?
The Irish
Wheelchair Association asserts that the
Disability Bill in its current form is
unacceptable. The organisation’s 20,000
members believe that they have no option
but to demonstrate publicly in the most
vigorous fashion for rejection of the
Bill.
Molly Buckley,
Executive Chairperson, IWA, said, “
While we recognise that some effort has
been made by the government, it is
nevertheless clear that they have no
real concept of how the flaws in this
Bill will result in people with
disabilities being treated as second
class citizens yet again.”
Supporting the
Disability Legislation Consultation
Group’s (DLCG) views on the Bill, IWA
contends that the Disability Bill should
be part of a framework of measures that
aims to support social inclusion and
designed to advance and underpin
participation by people with
disabilities in everyday life. Moreover,
provision should be made for the full
assessment of health and educational
needs so that Government can make
services available to meet those needs.
Access by people with disabilities to
mainstream services is seen as a
fundamental right. Ms Buckley went on
to say “We are calling for all
organisations and people with a
disability who share our concerns to
join us in a demonstration that will
leave the government in no doubt that
this inept Bill will not be tolerated”.
Ms Buckley outlined
changes IWA state must be made to the
Bill which include:
-
There must be a clear and
unequivocal right to an
assessment of need which must
not be resource-dependent
-
The services identified in the
assessment of need for an
individual must be provided
within a reasonable and agreed
timeframe
-
The Bill must provide for clear
protection of
disability-specific resources
-
The provisions regarding
Sectoral Plans must take account
of the wider needs of people
with disabilities. Each
government department with
relevant services must provide a
Sectoral Plan
-
The Bill must provide for 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
Anne Winslow,
Director of Services, commented “People
with disabilities are not guaranteed
vital necessary services within a
reasonable timeframe”.
Stressing that the
Disability Bill is a critical element of
the National Disability Strategy,
Michael Doyle, Regional Manager, IWA,
declared “ We are collecting a petition
that we estimate will be signed by half
a million people. We find ourselves in
the ludicrous situation that 85 TDs seem
to be saying YES to this Bill and
500,000 people are clearly saying NO,
can this be justice?”
IWA is asking its
sister organisations to join them in a
public demonstration against the Bill in
its current form.
A
march will be held on Thursday 26th
May 2005 congregating at Parnell Square
North at 1.00 p.m., departing at 1.30
p.m. and arriving at Dáil Éireann at
approx. 2.00 pm. Refer to IWA website:
www.iwa.ie
Contact details: Campaign office
Telephone: 01 8186470 or
08186485 Mobile: 087-8365360 Website:
www.iwa.ie
