Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I commend the Technical Group for tabling this motion highlighting the cuts to disability services and disability funding by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition. When on the Opposition benches, both of those parties were vociferous in opposing the cuts imposed on services and funding for people with disabilities perpetrated by the former Fianna Fáil Government.

Yesterday during questions to the Minister for Health, I once again urged the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and her senior partner at the Department of Health, Deputy James Reilly, not to proceed with the decision to cease the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant schemes. Once again the response from the Minister of State was totally unsatisfactory.

We have still not received an adequate explanation of why, during its two years in office, this Government failed to make the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant schemes compliant with equality legislation and why it took the step it did when it did. That poses further questions. It could have done so by either extending them or replacing them with a fairer scheme or schemes. Its predecessors, the Fianna Fáil Government, knew since the matter was highlighted in 2008, although the situation applied from the millennium year 2000, that they needed to be changed to comply with equality legislation and also failed to act. Instead this Government has announced the cut-off of the schemes in three and a half months’ time and without providing any alternative nor a deadline for the introduction of an alternative.

We call again on the Government to reverse its decision to cease the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant schemes until such time as an alternative is put in place. That alternative needs to be compliant with equality legislation and to provide at least equivalent support to all individuals qualifying under the said two schemes. From the Minister of State’s response yesterday it is clear that at present it intends no such alternative and is speaking generally of the transport options for people with disabilities. That would be a disaster for so many and make no mistake about it, the many more of us in the Chamber who may, God forbid, find ourselves in need of special mobility access and support in the future.

For large parts of this country those transport options for people with disabilities are negligible because in large parts of the country public transport is virtually non-existent as I highlighted yesterday. That is why individualised assistance, such as the two axed schemes, were so important. That point cannot be made strongly enough. We deplore also the Government decision to cut the housing adaptation grant by 40%, greatly penalising people with disabilities and older people and restricting their ability to remain in their own homes. This is a huge cut which has received very little attention but it has very serious long-term consequences for many people and for the State as it will inevitably mean more people requiring residential care and greater expense for the State. The Government should reinstate the housing adaptation grant to at least its 2012 level.

There are other cuts to services for people with disabilities, both directly to their services and in cuts across health, education, social protection and local government. These include the respite care grant, home help and increased prescription charges for medical card holders, if one happens to be an over 70s person still in possession of a medial card despite the Bill that is making its way through the Houses.

We demand that the cuts to services for people with disabilities imposed in 2012 and 2013 be reversed. I call on the Government to immediately publish the long overdue implementation plan for the national disability strategy.

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