THE LACK of basic facilities for people with disabilities in Ballina has degenerated to such a degree that Cllr Tommy Cooke witnessed a man in a wheelchair being forced to urinate in an alley.
Cllr Cooke shared this shocking story with Ballina Town Council last week, in a question and answer session after a presentation on the National Disability Strategy: “I was walking through town a number of weeks ago when I saw a young man in a wheelchair going to the toilet in Clarke’s Lane. When I asked what he was doing, he told me that there is no wheelchair accessible public toilet in Ballina. This is a disgraceful situation. There should be certain basic facilities available to people.”
Mr Kevin Cooke, Access Officer with Mayo Local Authorities gave the presentation, and told the Council that the government have committed
•15 million a year until 2009 in order to implement the National Disability Strategy.
The government have set themselves a number of targets as part of the Strategy, and the money is to be used for both current and capital expenditure.
The Council learned that all public buildings will be made compliant with Part M of the Building Regulations (access for people with disabilities) by December 2015.
An audit of public buildings is in progress at the moment, with buildings being assigned priority one, two or three depending on the work that needs to be carried out. Work will commence on priority one buildings in 2007
Public service employment is also to undergo a form of positive discrimination. Minister Cowen may set compliance targets to promote and encourage the hiring of staff with disabilities. If this is not done, a minimum target of 3% is to be achieved. Mayo is already overachieving on this target, with an employment figure of 6% being quoted to the Western People.
Last year, Mayo County Council was awarded a budget of •850000 as part of the strategy; with approximately •700,000 being spent on capital projects like improving access to buildings, disabled toilets etc. An application for significantly more funding has been made this year, but it is likely that a similar amount to the 2006 figure will be awarded.
When pressed by Mayor Mark Winters about the “paltry” budget, Mr Cooke admitted that “it is pocket change when you consider what needs to be done”.
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