·    In 1998 when we were formed we felt it necessary to state what we meant by rights for people with disability and so we produced a simple list which we called the Charter of Rights.  Essentially the Charter constitutes the main purpose of the NPSA

·    In 1999 we ran the “One Penny More” campaign.  This successful campaign aimed at convincing the public and the Government that a 0.1% increase in tax would eliminate waiting lists for disability services.  It succeeded in persuading the Government to initiate the “Cowan Plan” which went some distance towards resolving the worst waiting list problems at the time. 

·    2001 saw two major tasks for the NPSA.  We prepared our own disability legislation called The Disability Commissioner Bill 2001.  This was debated in the Dail but was defeated by the Government because they were about to publish “superior” legislation.  The “superior” legislation, the Disability Bill 2001, was seen by the disability community as being anti-disability and, following a strong campaign by the NPSA and others, it was withdrawn in February 2002.

·    From 2002 we have been involved in presenting the views of our member groups during the period that the Disability Bill and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill were being prepared and were progressing through the Dáil.  While now enacted their provisions have not as yet had an impact. We have vigorously represented the strong reservations of the disability community about both pieces of legislation.