One in four disabled people in employment

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 report, commissioned by the National Disability Authority (NDA), says educational underachievement among disabled people, as well as the social welfare trap, need to be addressed if more disabled people are to find full-time employment. A major complaint among people with disabilities is the fact that benefits are taken from them when they find full-time work.

Entitled ‘A Strategy of Engagement — Towards a Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities’, the report calls on the Government to adopt far more radical policies to ensure disabled people are given equal access to jobs.