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.