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Zagreb - Parliament on Wednesday adopted the Personal Assistance Act which increases the number of beneficiaries from 4,000 to over 15,000 as well as the number of personal assistants.
The law was passed with 79 votes for, one MP was against and 49 abstained.
Prior to the vote, Marija Selak Raspudić of Bridge said the bill violated the rights of persons with the highest degrees of disability and that persons with disabilities who have parent carers were denied the right to a personal assistant.
Anka Mrak Taritaš (Centre, GLAS) said the law could have been better had the ruling majority listened to the opposition.
Davorko Vidović (Social Democrats) said the law did not resolve the problem of assistants' status.
Ljubica Lukačić of the ruling HDZ said that with this law personal assistance was a right, not an option, for persons with disabilities for the first time, and that most of their associations were satisfied with it.
The law also raises from 570 to over 2,000 the number of parent carers whose children are entitled to a personal assistant as well as the hourly wage of personal assistants. Students will also be entitled to personal assistance. The application of the law will cost €176 million a year.
The ruling majority rejected the left opposition's conclusion to oblige the government to stipulate dignified wages and working conditions for all personal assistants.
Parliament also amended the Social Care Act with 126 votes for and two abstentions. The amendments expand the categories of parent carers and caregivers as well as increasing allowances.
The ruling majority rejected We Can!'s proposal to oblige the government to establish within three months an agency that would support and monitor intercountry adoptions.