Law ‘must recognise’ intellectually disabled
DSI chief executive Pat Clarke said their organisation is preparing an education and awareness programme directed at the legal profession outlining why they should not be afraid to engage with those who have an intellectual disability.
Mr Clarke’s comments come in the wake of a report in yesterday’s Irish Examiner in which a mother of a man with Down Syndrome expressed her horror at her son being described in court as “a person of unsound mind”.
Philomena Pallas was reacting to use of the word “lunatic” in the legal discussion surrounding the case during an application for a payout of €18,000 in damages after 28-year-old Walter Pallas was injured in a car accident in 2009.
Walter won gold for Ireland in the Special Olympics.
Mrs Pallas, from Wicklow, said she was “shocked and stunned when reference was made in open court that Walter may be a person of unsound mind and that the word lunatic was used in legal discussion of his case”.
Mr Clarke said the use of such language was “completely outdated in the 21st century”.
“We’ve moved on quite significantly from an attitude in society that pertained in 1871,” he said, referring to the Lunacy Act 1871 which governs capacity law, in other words issues such as the right to access justice, to decide if you want medical treatment, if you want to marry someone and to make decisions about your own money.
Both DSI and Inclusion Ireland, the National Association for People with Intellectual Disability, have long campaigned for modern capacity law but although the heads of Bill were published in 2008, no further progress was made. Yesterday, Fine Gael TD Dan Neville said use of terms such as “lunatic” stigmatised people.
Sarah Lennon, training and development officer with Inclusion Ireland, said archaic legislation in this area was “an embarrassment at this stage” and it continued to have a negative impact on the daily lives of those with an intellectual disability, such as their ability to open bank accounts, to make wills, or to be able to travel.
She said one family whose father took his son to football matches in Britain had to apply to the court every time he wanted to travel after his son was made a ward of court, on foot of a payout of damages following a brain injury.
“What we are asking for wouldn’t require huge money. We are just looking at changing the terminology and a change of attitude,” Ms Lennon said.
DSI, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, will launch the celebrations tomorrow at Kilmainham in the presence of President Mary McAleese.
