Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on Deputy Cairns' motion. I also welcome the motion. I want to raise three issues. Week after week, the witnesses who come before the Joint Committee on Disability Matters talk about the medical card and the possibilities for people with disabilities if they were to get outside incomes. The medical card is gold for a person with a disability.

Their fear is secondary benefits would be removed for disabled artists, writers, photographers or whatever. It is hugely important that that is protected. We need a serious discussion on how medical cards are provided for people with disabilities and how they can be guaranteed into the future and not have to come back looking for information year after year.

Section 39 organisations and pay parity constitute a major stumbling block for people with disabilities and the lack of services. As we see regarding recruitment for section 39 organisations the length and breadth of the country, pay parity has to be a huge priority for Government because unless we get that rectified, we have an unbalanced system and a difficulty.

I refer to residential care for people with disabilities who have been on five days' care but, because family circumstances have changed, now need seven-day care. These are people who are getting on in years, as are their parents. I have had instances recently where some people in the HSE said when it comes to a crisis point, they would then look at it. Does everything have to come to a crisis point before a decision is taken? We have seen that in relation to many decisions. I made the point to the official that it is going to emerge as a crisis point, so why not avert it? It will have to be made anyway, but we have to have this crisis at every level. It is grossly unfair on the person, the families and the system to expect we have to go to a crisis at every stage. Why are we not dealing with it?

I have looked at the disability allowance and the income disregard and reached out to different groups. An innovative scheme, the rural social scheme, was developed some 20 years ago. There were income disregards in that to make sure people kept their entitlement to it. The disability allowance needs to be looked at in a major way to see what income disregards can be put in place. What can be done to ensure persons can keep their disability allowance even if they get therapeutic work, which it is in many instances? The model of income disregards in the rural social scheme can be used and should be looked at by Departments to ensure there is a better system. I could talk all day but time is up.

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