Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to add my voice to this matter. What does the Government have against older people and those with disabilities? Last summer, we witnessed people with profound disabilities camping outside Government Buildings to ensure that their personal assistants would be reinstated. Last week, we saw cuts to the motorised grant and the mobility grant.

Today, one hears of cuts to the allocations of various county councils in respect of the disabled persons grant, the housing adaptation grant, the mobility grant and the housing aid for the elderly grant. Westmeath County Council will experience a grant cut of more than 46% from €988,155 to €435,722 this year. Longford County Council is facing a cut of 42% and this is despite both county councils, whose members I compliment, in their wisdom putting by their allocation from limited resources to ensure they could get the maximum possible allocation from the Department to ensure that older people and people with disabilities would be allowed to live out the rest of their lives in independence and with a sense of dignity. These grants are used to install stairlifts, access ramps and level access showers. They are used to replace windows and doors and to rewire houses. This is not about putting people into the lap of luxury but is simply about ensuring that elderly people and people with a disability can live in dignity.

The Minister of State will be obliged to revisit this issue. It is a callous cut and while I do not doubt the Minister of State is a genuine person who wishes to ensure that value for money is achieved, she must revisit this issue because, with their limited resources, the councils have allocated enough money to enable work to be done. In a final point, apart from the good work being done for those who benefit therefrom, such works are a major boost to small contractors in the rural areas. I know of a number of such contractors-----

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