More jobs help for disabled people

THE GOVERNMENT has pleged to create 3,000 new jobs for people with disabilities and spend more money improving accessibility to public buildings.

Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled the three-year plan at a disability conference in Paris yesterday, but charities are sceptical about what effect the announcement will have.

The state will help create 1,000 jobs a year over the next three years in businesses and public bodies with accessible workplaces and will provide a further €11m in financial aid for those unable to work.

There will also be a €150m project to improve access to public buildings, including schools and mairies.

More trained assistants will be hired in schools from this September to provide support to pupils with mobility problems, and disabled young people will be given priority when applying for certain state-funded apprenticeships.

The government will also create a new "label" scheme awarded to homes that meet certain access requirements.

Charities remain unconvinced by the announcements. They say not enough progress is being made since a law was passed in 2005 requiring better accessibility to buildings.

Jean-Louis Garcia, the president of Apajh, a federation of disabled people's charities, told 20 Minutes: "We've just listened to a big media sermon [from Sarkozy] with very few concrete promises."

Jean-Marie Barbier, president of the Association des Paralysés de France, told the paper: "It's a good starting point. Today only 15% of buildings are accessible. We wanted sanctions against those who do not follow the rules."

Related stories
Slow progress for disabled access
France can help disabled expats
Easyjet sued for refusing disabled