The association representing 27,000 people with an intellectual disability has called on the Government to introduce a carers' payment without a means test "as a matter of urgency".
Those caring for people with an intellectual disability found themselves in "desperate situations", the annual meeting of the National Association for the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland (NAMHI) was told.
Some of those present, who care at home for children and adults with a mental handicap, spoke of their financial hardship due to a lack of Government support.
The motion was tabled by the Association of the Severely and Profoundly Mentally Handicapped, Cork.
The general secretary designate of NAMHI, Ms Deirdre Carroll, said the organisation was disappointed the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, was not present to hear the "strongly worded" contributions on rights and standards for those with an intellectual disability.
Mr Martin, who attended the IMO conference in Kilkenny, sent his apologies and a message of goodwill and congratulations to NAMHI.
Other motions adopted by the a.g.m. called on the Government to increase the intake in nurse training schools for the special qualification in mental handicap nursing.
The Government was also urged to establish a working group to look at the "unique needs" of people with a dual diagnosis of mild/borderline intellectual disability and mental health problems, who currently fall between the intellectual disability and psychiatric services.
NAMHI also passed a motion calling on the Minister to introduce lifetime medical cards to children and adults who have a clearly identified and permanent disability.
This was the organisation's 40th annual meeting. While NAMHI acknowledged the progress made in funding and in the provision of supports and services in recent years, it did not intend to spend "another 40 years seeking justice for those to whom it is still denied", Ms Carroll said.
The meeting's theme was rights and standards for those with a learning disability and how those rights are, or should be, upheld by the law. Among the speakers were Prof Gerard Quinn and Ms Mary Keys of UCG.
Members were urged to take their campaigns to a higher level and to utilise national and international structures, such as the legal and human rights structures of the EU and the United Nations, to draw attention to their needs and to force the Government to recognise their rights in national legislation.
Indeed, such steps have already been taken by at least one affiliated member of the NAMHI group, which travelled to the UN in Geneva three years ago in a challenge to the Government's failure to fully recognise the economic, social and cultural rights of people with a mental handicap living in inappropriate settings in psychiatric hospitals.
Prof Quinn also suggested NAMHI seek a meeting with the Law Reform Commission as a matter of urgency. He said it was important to ensure the needs of its members were on the agenda in any new legislation and that its voice was heard in the formulation of the proposed Disability Bill.