Disability Bill - Time for President to intervene

THERE is now a compelling case for President Mary McAleese to refer the Government’s skewed Disability Bill to the Supreme Court so that the constitutionality of this highly unpopular piece of legislation can be submitted to the acid test.

There are strongly-held views that in its present shape it will result in a new and dangerous form of discrimination on economic grounds being written into the Constitution, effectively denying the rights of children to be treated equally.

That undoubtedly is the implication of the Coalition’s bid to ensure the entitlements of people with intellectual or physical disabilities will in future be based exclusively on the availability of resources rather than on rights-based legislation for access to services.

Having successfully referred the Government’s flawed legislation on nursing home fees to be similarly examined, Mrs McAleese, with the advice of the Council of State, should not hesitate to send this suspect Bill to the highest court in the land. No right-thinking person would gainsay her right to do that.

We can be sure Mrs McAleese will not be deaf to the heartfelt cry of a “tired, battle-weary mother” concerning the future of her 21-year-old Down Syndrome daughter.

In moving words, she voices the uncertainty and dread harboured by many families who fear for their children’s future if the Government has its way.

As she says, there is no mention of “rights” in the 52 pages of the bill. And she poses the chilling question: “Will our children have any rights?”

Such parents look to Mrs McAleese to ensure the plight of vulnerable children will not be made worse. Otherwise, their fate will be sealed this week as the controversial legislation is expected to complete its passage through the Oireachtas by Friday, when TDs leave Leinster House for the long summer recess.

By resorting to the Supreme Court, the President would, for instance, clarify the rights of families to secure an appropriate education for autistic children.

In the case of Lewis O’Carolan, a 14-year-old severely autistic boy, the High Court ruled that the provisions put forward by the State for his education were adequate and in compliance with the constitutional duties placed on the Departments of Education and Health and Children.

However, those provisions were described as inadequate by the head of a centre in Wales which specialises in the treatment of autism.

Yet the O’Carolans and other parents forced to go down the draining legal route have been unfairly accused by politicians of running to the courts at every turn and spending taxpayers’ money in the process.

In reality, however, the State was primarily to blame for dragging families through the courts, resisting all their efforts to vindicate the rights of children unfortunate enough to have a serious disability.

As witnessed at a meeting in Limerick last night, a campaign has been launched to put this vexed question high on the political agenda for the next election. Opposition politicians have committed to scrap the bill and enact truly rights-based legislation if they succeed in forming a government.

With the legislation certain to be passed, beleaguered parents are turning to Mrs McAleese in the hope that their children will not be doomed to spend their days as second-class citizens.

Mrs McAleese can vindicate the entitlement of embattled families to a full and fair hearing of their constitutional rights by referring the Disability Bill to the Supreme Court.