Burton highlights isolation of young disabled people
Disabled children suffer huge educational disadvantages, while their older counterparts are at greater risk of social isolation, a study reveals.
People with disabilities in Ireland — almost 800,000 in total — are therefore more likely to be jobless, poor and socially excluded.
The report on the social and living conditions of people with disabilities shows that disability has multiple, reciprocal effects, affecting education, social participation, employment and access to services.
It also forecasts that the situation will worsen as Ireland’s population ages.
Ms Burton said: “I remain concerned with the findings that people with disabilities still have a higher poverty risk than other groups, are more likely to be unemployed and experience exclusion from a range of everyday activities.
“It is important to note that these disadvantages affect up to 800,000 people with a disability in Ireland, almost one in five of the population, with a core group of 325,000 people reporting disability across multiple data sources.”
Speaking at a national seminar on promoting social inclusion for people with disabilities, Ms Burton highlighted people with disabilities as one of the priority groups in the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion. She said promoting social inclusion was a policy imperative, even at this critical stage in the economy and the public finances.
“It is important that we do as much as is possible to ensure that those who did least well out of the Celtic Tiger are protected from the burden of economic adjustment,” she said. “We need to ensure that the policy choices we make take account of the impact on social welfare recipients, the low-paid and vulnerable families. The very useful evidence gathered meticulously in this report will help us do that.”
She called for a cultural shift in the attitudes of employers to hiring people with disability, including the need for attention to job design.
Dorothy Watson, one of the authors of the report, highlighted a number of policy challenges arising from the research:
* The likely increase in the prevalence of disability as the population ages.
* The challenge for the educational system in enabling young people with a disability to maximise their achievements.
* The need for attention to job design, including flexible hours and modification of tasks, to enable participation of people with disability in work.
* The scope for improvements in access to public venues and to medical and transport services.
“This report brings together data from a range of sources to understand the circumstances of people with a disability,” said Ms Watson. “While it is clear that this is a very diverse group, they share many challenges in the areas of education, work and social participation.”
* Social Portrait of People with Disabilities in Ireland can be downloaded at www.socialinclusion.ie or from www.esri.ie
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