The past 12 months have not been good for people with disabilities. It has been a year of cutbacks, fear, anxiety, worry, frustration and anger. The anger is mainly directed at the Government and those in authority who do not seem to realise the impact of cuts on the ground for people with disabilities. We are hearing this loud and clear from parents across the country on a continuing basis. There are several areas I wish to highlight where this is being felt the most.
Across the country, despite official rhetoric, special needs assistance has been cut from schools and children have lost their special needs assistants. For young people with disabilities who leave school, there is no guarantee of placement for them at the end of this year and there was none last year. About 700 people with disabilities came out of school last year and it will be the same figure this year. It is a sad indictment on our society-----