Mr. Padraig Hannafin:

I thank the Chair and the committee for inviting us to present our views on means testing. I come before the committee with both professional and personal experience of means-testing. I work as public affairs research administrator for Rehab Group and, on a personal level, I have a spinal cord injury. I am paralysed from the chest down and have used a wheelchair since the age of 16.

If means-testing is to remain in place it needs to evolve into a more accessible process for people, any and all cliff edges that decimate a person’s income overnight need to be removed, the independence of the individual needs to be recognised rather than their household income being assessed and the true cost of disability and the at risk of poverty status of so many people with disabilities need to be recognised.

My most recent experience of means-testing came shortly after I got married in August of last year. My change of circumstances led to me being means-tested for my disability allowance in September. My application to retain my disability allowance was refused, my first appeal was refused and only on my second appeal was my disability allowance finally reinstated at a reduced rate the following February. I have no literacy issues or a learning or intellectual disability and my wife is a qualified special needs assistant, yet both of us struggled to fully understand and grasp the information given to us at each stage of the whole process. Much of the information was black and white, cold and blunt. The outcome of my application and appeal was delivered over seven pages of complex information at each stage. While neither of us understood fully what was wrong, we knew that something was not right. In the end my local TD discovered the Department had assessed my wife's fortnightly wages as weekly. Within 24 hours, my disability allowance was reinstated at a reduced rate with a letter of apology. While I was relieved to have my disability allowance and travel pass back, all I could think of were some of our service users. Many of the people I have met in focus groups who have literacy issues, cognitive issues or issues with confidence would not have been able to dispute the original result on their own or have had the confidence to challenge what is routinely a first refusal.

When Rehab advocacy officers help the people they work with to apply for the disability allowance they now tell them they will almost certainly be refused on their first application. The information provided throughout the application process did not come with an easy-read format. It did not come with support information or any direction as to where support could be found. It did not come with a phone line where clarification could be sought on certain issues or with information about outside services that could provide support in the application or in any subsequent appeals. My broadband provider recognises the difficulties some people with disabilities face with complex and technical information, so it provides a disability-specific customer care line in recognition of this. Means-testing does not.

The means-testing process needs to be more person-focused, with an understanding of the individual. One Rehab service user living with her parents lost both her travel pass and her sole income of disability allowance after the household income was taken into account during means testing. This woman’s independence had been limited due to her having to live at home in the first place, but it was shattered after she lost her only income and her travel pass in one go. She had attended a RehabCare service during the week but had to reduce the days she attended due to the €12 total daily cost of travel to and from the centre. Means-testing the household did not take into account her right to be seen as an individual trying to live an independent life and has negatively affected her life dramatically.

The travel pass and medical card are seen as auxiliary supports to disability allowance but for people with disabilities they are lifelines. Recently, six Rehab service users had not applied for medical cards until they met their advocacy officers due to being so daunted by the means-testing application process. Others had not applied for appeal as they did not understand they could do so and another said “Dad said we will leave it alone because we will be means-tested.” The advocacy team’s feeling is that the system is designed to be off-putting and unapproachable.

As I said, if the means test remains in place, the following changes would address some of the problems I have outlined. Communication should be provided in easy-to-read or plain English. A disability-specific phone support line should be provided to guide people through applications and appeals. Guidance on where to find the information required to complete appeals should be included with all communication. Means-testing should only look at the individual’s income, rather than that of the household. All cliff edge removals of supports should stop, a more staggered approach should be taken with reductions of payments and people should be able to retain the travel pass and medical card.