The National Disability Authority is warning that people with a disability may be at greater risk of unemployment during the recession.

Indian political parties were today focusing their attentions on their post-election strategies ahead of the results being announced over the weekend.

THE National Disability Authority (NDA) has called on the Government to retain an independent agency to deal with disability issues.

NOBODY in Ireland should have any issue with the role of the National Disability Authority (NDA) in monitoring the national disability strategy.

WE at the National Disability Authority (NDA) would like to welcome Donie O’Leary’s acknowledgement of the work of the authority in his letter (‘Why did disability agency sign up for the Italian job?’, July 16).

The National Disability Authority (NDA) is an independent statutory agency established under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

A new campaign to challenge attitudes to mental health will be aired today.

A National Nuclear Archive which could hold up to 30 million digital, paper and photographic records is to be established in the UK, it emerged today.

A nationwide television and radio campaign kicks off today in an attempt to remove the stigma around mental health.

Union leaders in the UK were today seeking talks with the British government over reports that clean-up work at a number of defunct nuclear reactors is to be halted because of funding problems.

British health and safety inspectors are investigating an incident at a recently closed nuclear power station in Suffolk which led to the escape of 40,000 gallons of radioactive water, it has been revealed.

THE operators of two nuclear facilities have each been fined £2 million (€2.97m) over radioactive spillages.

JUST one-in-four disabled people has a job and those with disabilities are three times more likely to leave school early, according to a report launched yesterday.

The Government must draw up an employment strategy to get more jobs for people with disabilities, it was claimed tonight.

The National Disability Authority is calling for major changes in government policy to tackle low employment levels among disabled people.

THE Minister for Transport was yesterday asked to put the brakes on a €16 million order from Bus Éireann for 60 new passenger coaches which have no wheelchair accessibility.

The nuclear plant at Sellafield is a real and present danger to life in the post 9/11 climate, the Irish Government said tonight.

DISABLED people are calling for urgent action to help them become more involved in society, after a new report shows that many disabled people are poorer, less educated and in worse health than others.

The National Disability Authority has claimed that disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty than able-bodied people.

The new €34.4bn transport system unveiled for Ireland will be fully accessible to disabled people, Minister of State Ivor Callely pledged today.

MILLIONS of euro spent by the Department of Education contesting court cases relating to services for special needs children could have employed more than 100 new teachers, it was claimed yesterday.

I AM writing in relation to the article which criticised the the Government’s national disability strategy (Irish Examiner, October 10).

Government Departments and Agencies were today gearing up for a competition rewarding efforts to improve services and accessible for the disabled.

People with mental health problems should have the same right to be consulted about their treatment as ordinary citizens, it was claimed today.

PEOPLE with intellectual disabilities are being denied in-patient treatment in some hospitals unless they have a carer to accompany them 24 hours a day.

PEOPLE with disabilities are twice as likely as the rest of the population to be poor, a study shows.

Mary Dundon, Political Reporter

THE country’s 30,000 disabled people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual suffer further discrimination because of their sexual disorientation, the National Disability Authority (NDA) said yesterday.

A DISABLED person is two and a half times as likely to be unemployed as someone without a disability.

UP TO 7,000 intellectually disabled adults are at risk of abuse because there are no independent inspections of the care homes they live in, disability groups warned yesterday.

DISABLED people are less likely to visit friends, go to the pub or cinema, or take a holiday, a survey has shown.

MORE THAN 300 people with intellectual disabilities are still in psychiatric institutions even though the Department of Health admits they should not be there.

DISABILITY groups fear there are clauses in the Disability Bill that will allow the Government to evade paying the kind of money needed to give them equal treatment as the rest of society.

HOUSEHOLDS where the head is out of work due to disability are almost twice as likely to live below the poverty line.

Star Wars creator George Lucas could be poised to make three sequels to the original space opera trilogy, according to insiders at Lucasfilm.

The National Disability Authority today gave recommendations for Personal Assistance Services (PAS) for people with disabilities in Ireland.

The National Disability Authority today welcomed the Irish College of Psychiatrists' proposals on plans for a service model to develop of psychiatric services for people with intellectual disability.

DISABLED people continue to be denied basic human rights such as health and education, a national agency warned yesterday.

The opposition Congress party and its allies scored unexpectedly strong gains in India’s Parliament elections as the nail-biting finale to the polls seemed to be heading for an upset.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ruling coalition said it was “confident” it would secure a majority in Parliament when final election results are counted tomorrow, though exit polls indicated a hung legislature was likely.

India held the fifth and final phase of the world’s largest democratic election today, amid doubts over whether Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be returned to power with a stable government.

Police armed with video cameras and soldiers with automatic rifles were among a million security forces on alert in 16 Indian states for today’s voting in the fifth and final phase of three-week Parliament elections in the world’s largest democracy.

AN opinion poll ahead of today’s penultimate phase of India’s general elections showed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s coalition surging ahead of its rivals, but falling short of a majority in parliament.

An opinion poll ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate phase of India’s general elections showed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s coalition surging ahead of its rivals, but falling short of a majority in parliament.