An umbrella group for parents of children with a mental handicap has called for the establishment of a disability commissioner, with powers similar to those of an Ombudsman.
The National Parents and Siblings Alliance last night made this suggestion as it introduced its Disability Commissioner Bill. The bill was being launched as successive governments had failed to introduce one, said Mr Seamus Greene, the NPSA chairman.
"In the end, the only real way for people with a disability to be fully sure that they will get their rights is to have them enshrined in legislation. People with a mental handicap have only one right, a right to an education, and even then people had to go to court to get that right recognised."
The bill, drawn up with professional legal draughtsman advice, orders that the disability commissioner be appointed by the Oireachtas but be independent of the Government.
The commissioner's first task would be drawing up a code of rights. "This would provide for the right of every person with a disability to receive a full assessment," Mr Greene said. It would enshrine rights such as education, training, long-term care and the right to meaningful work.
If such rights were not met, the disability commissioner would have the power to take legal action. The office would include positions for director of advocacy and director of proceedings.
Mr Greene said he had "absolutely no doubt" the production of this bill would speed up Government activity in the area. "We are a determined group and we are certainly not going to lie down and accept a No," he said.
The first copy was presented by an NPSA member, Mr Fergus Finlay, to Ms Kathryn Sinnott, who went to the Supreme Court to establish that her autistic son, Jamie, had a right to a basic education after the age of 18 years.
