Disabled people less educated and poorer than others

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 (NDA) is blaming a lack of investment in the education of young people with disabilities after it emerged that they are twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled people.

The How Far Towards Equality? document shows that one-in-five people with a physical disability drops out of education before the minimum school leaving age of 15, while only a fifth of secondary schools are fully accessible.

The author of the report, the former Labour TD Eithne Fitzgerald, said the Department of Education must provide more money to schools to stop this trend.

“Children with disabilities who don’t do their Junior Cert have an 80% chance of being on social welfare for the next 40 years of their life. This money could be better spent on school improvements that would help them to stay in education for longer,” she said.

NDA chairwoman Angela Kerins said the poor performance of disabled people in the education system impacts on their employment chances later in life. The report shows that a quarter of disabled people of working age are in employment and they earn, on average, €1.25 less per hour than their equivalents.

The high levels of poverty among disabled people is also put down to a higher cost of living.

“If they have to choose whether to buy a new coat or the medication they need, they will probably have to go without a coat for the winter,” said Ms Fitzgerald.

The document also shows that disabled people take less exercise and are more likely to suffer general health problems such as tooth decay.

Most of the data in the report was collected before the introduction of the Disability Bill last July.

But speaking at the launch of the report yesterday, the Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly expressed concern about the wording of the Bill, saying it would lead to difficulties for her office to address complaints.