The National Disability Authority, which will monitor standards in disability services and advise the Government on policy, is expected to be almost a year late in getting under way.
The NDA, one of the bodies to take over the work of the National Rehabilitation Board, was due to go into operation last January. The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ms Mary Wallace, yesterday said it would begin to function in November.
Reasons for the delay included consultation with the 186 NRB staff who will be affected by the new arrangements.
Some will transfer to the NDA, some to Comhairle (which will merge the information functions of the NRB with the National Social Service Board), some to FAS and some to the health boards. The health boards are taking over the NRB services for hearing-impaired people.
Posts will be advertised in the autumn but Ms Wallace could not say whether these will include the post of chief executive or whether the CEO of the NRB, Dr Arthur O'Reilly, will automatically transfer to the top post in the new authority.
The Department of Finance has sanctioned a budget of £2 million for the NDA this year, to increase by 3 per cent per annum. Money not spent by the authority in 1999 will be used to fund disability information and transport projects, she said. The NDA will not be involved in providing services. Instead it will set standards, monitor the implementation of these standards and engage in research and the formulation of policy.