State’s lip service to disabled

AS the European Year of the Disabled dawns, our exposé on Ireland’s treatment of disabled people reveals that while public attitudes have undergone a welcome transformation little has changed in the State’s hard hearted approach to this vital question.

In an on-going travesty of justice, family after family has been forced to fight a series of stressful and costly court battles in order to win basic educational and other rights for their children.

In one case after another, the State has sought to reduce the gains, either in terms of human rights or financial compensation, likely to accrue to the families concerned.