Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise with the Minister the issue of the rehabilitative training allowance, which I have learned is to be abolished. I have raised the matter also with the Taoiseach. This training allowance is for young people who have a disability and is worth €31.80 a week, for a maximum of four years. I acknowledge the HSE is struggling with a deficit but this is nothing short of scandalous. Rehabilitative training is essential for young people with disabilities in developing independence, and this payment is much-needed money for one of the most vulnerable groups of people in our society. To these people it means a job to get them out of bed every day to where they will be looked after well and where they feel wanted and supported by other people like them with whom they work.

Like the Minister, I have been around the Houses of the Oireachtas for a long time. He and I arrived here on the same day. This is the most mean-spirited cut I have witnessed since then.

I am proud to be a member of a party which is committed to the removal of barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully in society and which recognises that adequate supports and services are required if these people are to live independently. They are entitled not only to dignity and respect but also to the choice to progress to education and vocational and mainstream services. I ask the Minister to use his influence, as I did earlier with the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach stated that he was not aware of the abolition of the fund. I ask the Minister to use his good offices for the sake of people who have no voice. The fund does great work and provides great help for those who benefit and for their parents. It is a reason for them to go to work every week. To do this for a minimum payment of €38 per week is outrageous and I ask the Minister to use his influence to have it reversed immediately.

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