Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the witnesses. Following on from our last session, we see the harshness that means testing delivers for many families. As I said, it does not take into account the cost of a mortgage, the extra cost of heating a home or the extra cost of having a disability and having to care. It seems that, quite often, the Department of Social Protection appears to have no sense of how it keeps the disabled community within a poverty trap. You are damned if you do and damned if you do not. If someone is on disability allowance, they get a medical card and free travel and have a standard of living, and while I am not saying it is an adequate standard, it is a standard. However, if someone goes into education or is living independently, they do not get rent allowance and cannot live independently as they go through education because that is taken from them. The Department gives with one hand and takes with the other, and it keeps an individual at a level. As noted in the opening statement, the lack of financial independence means reliance on a partner or spouse and people are penalised. Mr. Hannafin also highlighted this in his contribution.

I have a question for the Disability Federation of Ireland on the UNCRPD. Could the Department be considered to be in breach of Article 28 on the adequate standard of living? It is its responsibility to maintain an adequate standard of living. We have signed up to the convention and we are not adhering to it. We do not have individualisation, and while I know the individualisation of a payment would be difficult, difficult things can be surmounted. People have to submit evidence of other people’s income in the house but if they are living at home as a single person, they are entitled to the full rate. They are not penalised based on their parents’ income and can receive a payment from the Department of Social Protection on an individual basis while living with family members.

Again, this goes back to how the independence of people's income is compromised again and again. If someone gets a job, the medical card or free travel is taken off them. As we say repeatedly, given the cost of disability and the cost and risk of trying to improve living standards through employment, that benefit does not balance out when people lose their medical card and other supports. Given this means testing, will the Disability Federation of Ireland confirm there is reticence among the disabled community to commence employment due to the impact on medical card entitlement, household benefits package entitlement and free travel entitlement? The current income limits are quite restrictive and we are constantly told this adds hugely to anxiety.

There are disabled people who want to better themselves and, like many others, want to enter education to improve their chances of employment, but they would lose their rent allowance. What engagement has the Disability Federation of Ireland had with the Department in that regard? It is a cruel slap in the face. People are doing their best to get on in life yet they could end up not being able to afford a home.