Disability rights and wrongs now at the tender mercy of the Taoiseach

THE Taoiseach has summoned the Disability Legislation Consultative Group (DLCG) to a meeting in his office late next Friday afternoon.

No agenda has been sent out, and the DLCG has been asked to nominate one member from each of its constituent organisations to attend the meeting. What does this mean? At the same time, the Department of Health has written to a number of organisations in the disability movement, telling them that they propose to undertake a major "strategic review" of policies and priorities over the next 15 months.

This "review" will involve revisiting a wide number of already-published documents, with a view to arriving at a fresh set of priorities for policy in the future. What does this mean? The Disability Legislation Consultative Group was established at the request of the Government, and asked to consult throughout the disability movement on what should be in the Disability Bill promised by the Government. The Taoiseach has already met the DLCG several times. After their last meeting (just after the Special Olympics) statements were issued on all sides expressing great satisfaction. The Taoiseach was committed to rights-based legislation, and work was proceeding on that basis.