The local council work scheme will be extended to employ an additional 150 disabled people in the community.

At the moment, there are 1,300 disabled people in the workforce, about 80 of them working at local councils.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech yesterday announ-ced that the local council work scheme would be extended to other governmental entities and NGOs to include another 150 disabled people.

A third of these will be employed in Gozo.

The Government will also cut the tax on fees paid for residency services in respite centres. This benefit would apply to parents or relatives of disabled people up to a maximum of €2,500, Mr Fenech added.

The minister also proposed the inclusion of more forms of disability that would benefit from the non-contributory pension.

From January, there will be a mechanism that determines whether a person qualifies for: the Special Disability Card, if they are registered in the Employment Training nd Corporation disability register and the disability pension under the Social Security Act.

Another Budget proposal will see two disabled people who married before January 2007 being entitled to separate pensions and not a single conjugal one.

University students will be given financial help tailored to their educational needs and this measure will be extended to secondary studies.

Two resource centres will be built at the Paola and Ħamrun secondary schools, where disabled students will be given person-alised services.

A programme called Job Bridge will provide specialised training for disabled people to help them build the necessary employment skills.