The planned removal of a hot meals service for children with disabilities who attend the Enable Ireland school in Sandymount, Dublin, has been described as "appalling" and "harsh" by parents.
As part of a cost-cutting exercise, Enable Ireland originally planned to stop serving meals to the 53 children and young people from Monday, March 24th.
The decision was deferred until May 6th but yesterday parents launched a campaign to save the service. They said they would mount a picket outside the school if they had to.
News of the cutbacks emerged as preparations continue for Ireland to host the Special Olympic Games this summer, and during European Year of People with Disabilities.
A spokeswoman for Enable Ireland said the issue was still under active consideration and that meetings were being organised with parents and the board of management.
"The aim is that any measure taken will not impact on the children attending the school. The school board is considering a number of options, including grant aid and cheaper hot meals," she said.
As revealed in The Irish Times last week, Enable Ireland is experiencing financial difficulties and is considering cutbacks.
It had a core deficit of €1.8 million last year, which is now reduced to €700,000 with redundancies and other cutbacks. The hot meals service costs €71,000 a year. Opposition TDs criticised the cutbacks yesterday, saying that vulnerable children were suffering due to the Government's economic policies.
They said funding for disabled groups should have been increased this year.
Labour's health spokeswoman Ms Liz McManus said news that the service would be cut was "quite shocking".
Fine Gael's health spokeswoman Ms Olivia Mitchell said services for children should be prioritised during any rationalisation of health services.
The Department of Health and Children said it was in discussions with Enable Ireland and other voluntary agencies to eliminate deficits.
When asked about the targeting of services for disabled children, the department would state only that Enable Ireland received annual grants of about €16 million to run its services.
The agency had received an additional €1.5 million in 2001 and €1.7 million in 2002 to reduce its deficit, a spokesman said. It had received €94,000 so far this year.
Mr Noel Farrell, chairman of the Parents' and Friends' Committee, said hot meals were essential for the children as some pupils left for school at 7.30 a.m. and did not return home until 4.30 p.m.
"For most able-bodied people it would be a struggle to make it through the day without a hot lunch. To expect a particularly vulnerable and needy group to do so is harsh," he said.
Mr Farrell said the plan would victimise a vulnerable group of children."It will affect the personal development of a group of people that need every assistance, rather than less assistance."
He said parents were "furious" with the decision and with the fact that they were not consulted on the issue.
The Enable Ireland spokeswoman said a working group of relevant staff was originally set up to review the service and to consider options that would not impact on children.