Fine Gael has promised to seek a constitutional amendment to recognise the rights of people with a disability.
In a statement today, party spokeswoman on social, community and family affairs Ms Frances Fitzgerald said the Government had neglected special-needs children.
Ms Fitzgerald said a constitutional amendment would ensure parents will "not have to resort to the courts" to obtain vital services for their children.
If in government, she said, Fine Gael would target the vulnerable in society and guarantee the parents of children with special needs a legal right to an assessment of their child’s needs and provide a legal right of appeal where services do not meet those needs.
She said the Government’s "11th-hour Disabilities Bill" was rejected by disabilities groups because it did not allow for an assessment of needs, did not come into force until the child was three and had no commitment to service beyond 18 years.
Ms Fitzgerald said the "legacy of an inept, cynical and dishonest Government" was that many children were now suffering further developmental problems because their needs were not identified in time.