Sir, - On the day the Leaving Cert results came out, it is distressing and disgraceful that young people with disabilities have to write to The Irish Times to say that they have places but no funding. (Letter from Gary Knight about his brother - August 19th.)
It is an intolerable situation both for children and parents, and a disgrace that our government could allow one of the most vulnerable groups of people in our society be treated like this. If third level colleges were writing to "normal" students telling them that their places were being withdrawn for lack of funding, imagine the uproar there would be. But parents in Ireland have to take the Government to court to secure the Constitutional right of appropriate education before anyone listens - or before the media take a great deal of notice.
What makes this even more unacceptable is that:
1. There is a commitment from this government to deal with the situation. 2. 1,500 day places (including training and education) are needed immediately. 3. The Government is aware of these numbers because all that information is in the Data Bank published by the Department of Health. 4. Service Providers all over the country have informed the Department of their funding needs, and the number of school leavers that will need training this year.
This problem has got to be dealt with immediately. Every person with a disability should have a right to further education or training, like every other young person in this Country. They have the same right to a decent start in life as any other citizen - when is it going to be taken seriously? Yours, etc.,
Frank Mulcahy,
Council Chairman Irish Council of Students with Disabilities, Inchicore Road, Dublin 8.