Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for being with us and for sharing their experiences. This week we are hearing about another element of living with a disability that is overlooked. Chronic illnesses have a major and ongoing impact on people’s lives and the witnesses have clearly shown us that. Due to the limited time available I will only be able to ask a few questions but if there is time after these two questions I will come back in with a third one.

Ms Casserly highlighted the fact that Parkinson’s disease is one of the fastest growing neurological diseases and is expected to double by 2030. She rightly encouraged the Government to be proactive and invest in early intervention and community-based programmes now, which would be better for individuals and health services. Could Ms Casserly describe what kind of programmes she would have in mind or what would be useful?

Ms McGreehan highlighted that the mobility grant was stopped for new applicants in 2013. A new scheme was due to replace it but nothing has materialised yet. This is an issue that many of us will be aware of from our constituency work. Could Ms McGreehan elaborate on the significance of this grant and why it needs to be reinstated immediately. She points out that in some cases individuals have to use their annual leave for medical appointments. Given that some conditions require multiple appointments with different healthcare professionals, this is an indication of the reality of living with a chronic illness and of Ireland's poor worker rights. Does Ms Casserly think there should be a statutory right to take necessary medical appointments without affecting annual leave? If there is time I will have a question for Ms Wehrly at the end as well.