Disability groups to stage protest

GROUPS representing the mentally handicapped are to stage a protest outside Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's launch of the European Year of the Disabled tomorrow over cutbacks in services.

They say a freeze in funding for new residential places means school-leavers will have to be cared for by their families, many of whom are too old or unable to cope.

The protest will be highly embarrassing for the Government which has been keen to highlight its funding of the Special Olympics later this year.

Service providers have started sending letters to parents of intellectually disabled children due to leave school in the summer, saying there will be no guaranteed residential places due to lack of funding.

Deirdre Carroll, of the National Association of the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland (NAMHI), said last December's budget failed to provide any new money for residential, day or respite places.

"The recent progress made in reducing numbers on waiting lists for these services will now stop despite evidence of growing need and the movement of people from psychiatric hospitals to more suitable settings," she said.

The protesters will be from NAMHI, the Irish Autism Alliance, the National Parents and Siblings Alliance and representatives from the Federation of Voluntary Bodies.

The Government says it is "regrettable" that it has not been able to increase funding for residential and respite services, on top of significant increases in recent years.

It says its efforts will go towards keeping the existing services going and investing again in new residential places as soon as possible.

The Department of Health has been allocated 13.3m for existing services which will also have to cover the cost of new services put in place recently.