The National Disability Resource Centre is to close despite 2003 being the European Year of People with Disabilities.
News of the centre's closure was greeted with surprise yesterday by the chairwoman of the National Disability Authority, which is the leading statutory body for disability in Ireland.
Founded in 1991, the resource centre in Dublin has provided a wheelchair-accessible centre where the public could get information and try out samples of assistive technologies such as chairlifts, walking frames and seating supports in a sales-free environment.
It was originally part of the independent living services provided by the former National Rehabilitation Board. However in 2000, funding of the centre transferred to Comhairle, the national agency for the provision of information on social services, which merged the former National Social Service Board and part of the National Rehabilitation Board. Since then Comhairle has been gradually winding down the centre.
Its closure is part of the "mainstreaming of services for the disabled" proposed by the Strategy for Equality published in 1996, said Mr Tony McQuinn, a senior manager at Comhairle. "This type of service does not fit with the strategic role of Comhairle. As only one resource centre in Dublin, it is not readily accessible to people around the country."
Instead a "database of assistive technologies will be available on the web, at Comhairle's Citizens Information Centres and through other information providers", he said. "We will be working in partnership with the Central Remedial Clinic and Enable Ireland to set up this database. We feel this will be more easily updated and available to the public."
Mr McQuinn said Comhairle was holding discussions with ano-ther agency, which he would not name, about the possibility of continuing a similar service in the building where the centre was located, as it was designed for people with disabilities. In the meantime, the centre only has one member of staff.
Ms Angela Kerins, the chairwoman of the National Disability Authority, said she was concerned at the withdrawal of the service.
"I will be formally raising this matter with Comhairle," she said. "The Government decision to dissolve the National Rehabilitation Authority and transfer its services to other agencies such as Comhairle was taken on the principle of no diminution of services of people with disabilities."
Mr Donal Toolan, co-ordinator of the Forum of People with Disabilities, challenged Comhairle's view that supporting the National Disability Resource Centre was "counter to mainstreaming services for the disabled".
"Mainstreaming does not mean not providing for disabled people, it means bringing what disabled people need into the mainstream," he said.
"I'm not confident that information technology will provide a sufficient access point for disabled people to learn about available aids and appliances," he said. "Current research available to the Information Society Commission shows that people who don't have money aren't accessing web technology and disabled people are likely to be poor."
Choosing aids and appliances was a big decision, he added. "It requires a place where people can make human contact and engage, such as the National Disability Resource Centre."
Ms Bethan Collins, an occupational therapist who presents RTÉ radio's Audioscope, said having a facility such as the disability resource centre was important, not just for "people with disabilities but also for professional therapists".
"The service provided at the NDRC has reduced dramatically over the last two years from somewhere where you could go in and have a good look around," she said. "It provided information that would not necessarily be that useful on a database."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, where the Minister of State, Mr Willie O'Dea, has special responsibility for equality issues including disability, said she could not comment because the centre was not funded by the Department and was not a State agency.
A spokesperson for Department of Family and Social Affairs, which funds Comhairle, said the closure was a matter for Comhairle.