Disabled sector - Exclusions are absolute disgrace

The term ‘hypocrisy’ comes instantly to mind as bodies representing children with disabilities are excluded from a key Government working group that will propose changes in how extra teachers and care staff will be allocated for them at our schools.

This glaring omission, revealed in today’s page one report, flies in the face of an unequivocal promise by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn that both “parents and advocacy groups will be on that working group”. It will have a fundamental impact on the allocation of resources for the future education of these children.

In what can only be seen as a coldly calculated decision to draw the sting of bodies campaigning at the coal-face of this crucial issue, the denial of their promised representation is the latest in a series of setbacks inflicted by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition on some of the most vulnerable sections of Irish society.

In a classic example of how the impact of advocacy groups has effectively been weakened, besides being deprived of a seat on the working body, contrary to Minister Quinn’s apparently meaningless pledge, they have merely been invited to attend a two-and-a-half-hour session tomorrow of the 14-person group set up by the National Council for Special Education, rightly accused of being short-sighted by excluding advocacy groups.

The most disappointing aspect is that these groups are fighting for the rights of children with autism, Down’s syndrome, hearing and visual impairment, physical disabilities, and emotional and behavioural difficulties.

It is unacceptable that the Government should blame the troika for its systematic erosion of financial and other resources which children with disabilities and their families desperately need. No doubt, voters are also witnessing a carefully planned Fine Gael strategy to ensure Labour ministers in sensitive and costly departments face the sharp edge of public opinion, as graphically reflected in a poll showing Labour now has a rating of only 10% — its lowest since 2008.

What compounds the sense of hypocrisy is that draconian measures are usually followed by a swift political U-turn aimed at appeasing public outrage. However, support systems are then whittled away by seemingly innocuous cuts or curbs by stealth and under the radar. Last week the Irish Examiner revealed an utterly unrealistic deadline of next Friday has been set for schools to submit applications for children not already allocated special needs assistants or resource teachers. Unless Minister Quinn extends the deadline, children who fail to get an assessment in time, or whose special needs have not yet even been identified, will be deprived of the extra supports they need until the autumn of 2014.

Ideally, according to the Special Needs Parents Association, there should be a public consultation process for advocacy groups and individuals to make submissions. But granting just over two hours to the voice of people with disabilities is an absolute disgrace.