The Taoiseach will face protests by students over cuts and new higher education charges when he opens a new wing at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in Galway city today.
A petition calling on the Government to honour Fianna Fáil's pre-election commitment to a rights-based Disability Bill will also be presented to the Taoiseach during a series of engagements at GMIT in Renmore this evening.
The GMIT and NUI Galway students' unions worked with the Galway Alliance of Parents and Carers (GAP) to put together the petition, signed by prominent people in the city, in advance of publication of the revised disability legislation.
Mr Frank Conaty of GAP said recent statements by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, and his junior minister, Mr Willie O'Dea, indicated the Government was trying to row back on the commitment to a rights-based Bill.
Fianna Fáil senator Ms Margaret Cox also suggested, at a conference hosted by the Centre for Independent Living in Galway last week, that such legislation would not be introduced. Ms Cox could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
Last week's publication of an ESRI report, which was commissioned by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, also gave out negative signals, Mr Conaty said. The report does not reject a rights-based approach to disability legislation but argues that a "significant advance" would be made if alternative strategies were put in place, including a "clear and detailed plan for improving services over time as more resources became available".
"The Taoiseach met the Disability Legislation Consultation Group on July 15th and gave a clear indication that the rights-based approach would be adhered to," Mr Conaty said. "We hope he lives up to this promise."
The €80 increase in the third-level registration fee for students contained in last week's Estimates, and new restrictions on eligibility for the Back to Education Allowance will be among a range of issues which the two students' unions at NUI, Galway and GMIT hope to highlight this afternoon.
Students from GMIT's two other Galway campuses at Cluain Mhuire and Letterfrack, and at its college in Castlebar, Co Mayo, are also expected to participate.
The Taoiseach is due to open the €30 million learning resource centre, which is the largest building project undertaken by GMIT since it opened in 1972. The wing received plaudits at last month's Expo Opus Buildings Awards in Dublin.
Mr Ahern will also open the Galway Science and Technology Festival, which runs in Galway throughout the week in Galway, culminating in a nine-day exhibition at Leisureland and the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill next Sunday. French astronaut Mr Michel Tognini will be among the participants at the festival.
