Figures on lack of services for disabled 'suppressed'

Official figures showing that hundreds of intellectually disabled people are not receiving vital services from the State are being suppressed until after the Special Olympics, it has been claimed.

The Department of Health confirmed early last month that the National Intellectual Disability Database for 2001 had been completed and was ready to be printed.

However, the Labour Party's education spokeswoman, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, said it was clear the Government was trying to avoid the embarrassment of the figures in the run-up to the Special Olympics.

The Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Mr Tim O'Malley, who originally said the figures would be published in March, has rejected suggestions that publication of the information is being deliberately delayed. He said a delay in the submission of one regional data set had caused the delay.

The previous database report showed that 600 intellectually disabled people were not receiving any services and that 1,500 disabled people needed residential support.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, are expected to unite tomorrow to devote their leaders' questions to deal with difficulties in the disability sector.

The decision to focus on the issue just days before the Special Olympics teams arrive is aimed at maximising pressure on the Government.

It will also coincide with a protest outside Leinster House by disability groups, who are calling on the Government to publish a rights-based Disability Bill and provide funding for emergency cases and day services.

Ms Deirdre Carroll of the National Association of the Mentally Handicapped of Ireland said the Government had to show its commitment to the disabled rather than Ministers using the games as a "photoshoot".