March 2011

INCLUSION IRELAND WELCOMES DISABILITY RELATED COMMITMENTS IN PROGRAMME FOR GOVERNMENT

Promises in the Programme for Government to introduce statutory standards and inspection of disability services are welcome says Inclusion Ireland CEO Deirdre Carroll, but a timeframe for implementation is needed to ensure this does not become yet another failed promise to people with disabilities and their families. 

The Government for National Recovery 2011-2016 also commits to a new implementation plan for the National Disability Strategy and funding towards a “personal budget model so that people with disabilities or their families have the flexibility to make choices that suit their needs best”.

Both commitments are very welcome and are issues Inclusion Ireland has raised repeatedly in the past. 

The new Government also commits to modern capacity law, which will replace the Lunacy Act of 1871, and individual education plans for children with disabilities. 

Deirdre Carroll says:“The promises laid out in the new Programme for Government are very welcome and contain many key measures Inclusion Ireland has been campaigning for. However, we can only give the Programme a hesitant welcome, as there are no timeframes given for implementation. In light of the number of commitments made to people with disabilities and their families in the past, which were not fulfilled by previous governments, Inclusion Ireland hopes the new Government will ensure it sees through these promises.”