Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My apologies for being absent for quite a long time. I had to attend another meeting. It is very difficult when two meetings are being held at the same time.

. I welcome our guests. I have a couple of quick comments. Something that has become obvious to me and, I am sure, everybody in public life is that families that are affected by disability spend much of the time waiting for something to happen, waiting for services to kick in or waiting for attention. It has become a burden to them with the anxiety that is attached. Can the Departments do anything to try to eliminate that? For example, why should children with special needs of an acute nature have to wait indefinitely for urgent surgical procedures? These families have to wait a long time and they do not know when an outcome will be forthcoming

The burden on families has to be experienced by means having close contact with the families. These people will readily relate the facts. The mother of a teenager who has a serious disability recently informed me that she has been at it for 20 years, day and night and on call all the time. She said that some things are well done and some are not; that sometimes provision was made and sometimes it was not. Certain families have more than one member with a disability and that increases the burden. I would like the service providers to bear that in mind when they refer to waiting.

In the context of the disability allowance versus the invalidity pension, the former is insurance-based but there was a tradition whereby a person, a year from coming off a disability allowance, particularly when coming off a domiciliary care allowance, automatically qualified for an invalidity pension. This does not happen any more. That is a huge disadvantage to people who may have a limited income and who may find themselves in a difficult position. Any extra money is a huge advantage to them.

That needs to be looked at again.

This is important and I do not want an answer to it. It is a comment. Some people can overcome disability to a huge extent, whether a physical disability or a sensory disability. Others cannot. Others may find the disability so overpowering, whether inherited or a disability following an accident, that they find themselves at a huge physical and psychological disadvantage and feel unable to cope, and feel very pressurised, as I saw at a recent case where it was suggested that an amputee should seek employment. It was an appalling decision. I cannot understand how an official or anybody could stand over a decision like that. The simple reason was the unfortunate person was at a very severe physical disadvantage to start with and, to overcome that physical disability mentally, in itself, was a huge issue for him. To suggest to the person concerned that he should be looking for a job and there was no reason he should not get a job is crazy.

The Intreo people have been referred to. The jury is still out on that for me. They have done some interesting and useful work but they have also gone off on a tangent on some occasions where a little more thought could have gone into what eventually became a decision and a burden on the people affected by that decision. I am not asking for answers. I am making a comment. I have serious concerns about the things I have mentioned because I have daily contact with people who are affected in that way.