Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise this because, prior to Christmas, I was contacted by a man whose wife was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2016. She is unable to leave the house and is barely able to speak. She had her disability payment being paid directly into her Ulster Bank account, but as Ulster Bank is closing, she was transferring it to the post office so that her husband could pick it up for her. However, to do that, she needed a public services card. She was told to call in to the Intreo office but she was unable to do so. It took weeks to sort this out and to establish finally that there was a mobile unit, or at least that is how it was described when the email came back from Sligo to say there is a mobile unit assigned to each area. The personnel in Cavan did not seem to be aware of this. Someone eventually called out to her, but in the meantime they were unable to pick up three of her disability payments over the whole Christmas period. Luckily, they had put some money aside and were able to manage, but they would not have been able to manage for much longer. It just caused a lot of upset. They felt the way they were dealt with was insensitive. I know people receive disability payments for all sorts of reasons and most disabled people are more than independent and able to go into the Intreo office, but there are some who may have mobility issues and are not able to. I raise this so that even the staff would be aware of the service and be able to inform people, because they were not aware this time.

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