NDA Launch Disability Agenda - Issue One

Release Date: 04/02/2004

Issue One: Demands for Education Supports Continue to Accelerate

The National Disability Authority today (Friday, April 2^nd) launched Disability Agenda, a new series designed to initiate and inform public debate on Disability issues from education to health, employment and transport.

The first edition of Disability Agenda concentrates on the education sector and concludes through a review of policy and legislation developments, service delivery in Ireland and international practice that there has been unprecedented development in educational provision for students with special needs over recent years. Statistics indicate that roughly 3.5% of pupils in national school are identified as having 'special educational needs'. When the number of students attending learning support are included the percentage increases to approximately 12%.

However the demands for supports continues to accelerate. Between February and August 2003 the Department of Education and Science received more than 5,400 applications for extra resources for children with special needs at primary school, which is roughly equivalent to 1.5% of the total population in national schools.

In Issue 1 of Disability Agenda, the NDA makes strong recommendations for the education of people with disabilities. They include:

The Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill should mean a diminished trend in litigation, where adequate assessment, appropriate intervention and reviews were available for all students with special educational needs. Litigation has been the lead agent of reform and the state has paid out over 13 million euro in legal costs and damages since 1998

The physical environment of schools creates barriers to many children with disabilities. The NDA considers that all schools should be universally accessible and recommends that a school accessibility programme should commence on a national basis

The NDA believes that access to an appropriate assessment of needs, linked to an education plan and supported by ongoing monitoring, is essential to delivering on a child's right to an appropriate education. It recommends that procedures for assessment, planning and monitoring should be improved across all levels

The NDA recommends a localised provision of information to support parental choice regarding the educational provision for their children

According to Mr Donie O'Shea, Senior Policy Advisor at the NDA, "In progressing the disability agenda in Ireland, information is key to empowering people with disabilities and is a basic gateway to full participation in society. Our hope is that the Disability Agenda will be a useful tool for keeping people informed of significant developments that are taking place both in Ireland and internationally. We also hope that it will be a resource for informed debate on critical issues that impact on the lives of people with disabilities".

The objective of Disability Agenda is to support the work of the NDA in further raising public awareness about disability, developing an evidence-based approach to policy and standards setting and influencing the development of appropriate, accessible, quality services.

Disability Agenda series will contain brief, accessible summaries of recent NDA research and policy work to ensure that the NDA's 'rights based analysis' of relevant policy and service practice has the widest possible circulation and potential for impact.

The National Disability Authority works on behalf of the State to promote and help to secure the rights of people with disabilities through influencing public policy and legislation and by working to ensure that services to people with disabilities are of the highest standards and quality.