Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will make this issue real for many people. Two weeks ago, I was approached by a 78-year-old man who has a son with a disability. His son is living at home. They applied for a grant for an adaptation to their car but were refused. They came back with an appeal. The Department wanted the 78-year-old man to drive to Dublin for the appeal. We asked could the appeal be reconvened to Limerick and the Department said it would do what it could in that regard. This man is 78 years of age and his son has a disability. His son can sometimes get a weakness and his 78-year-old father must try to get him into the car to get him medical help.

I know of a couple, one of whom has a disability, who got married and the disability payment has now been cut. I know of another couple who were married for three years before the Department twigged it. The Department now wants to take money from the couple and backdate repayment. This is all wrong. If you have a disability and qualify for a payment, regardless of whether you are married or have a partner or not, you still have the disability and cannot change that. The appeals system is very slow and we should not be bringing people to Dublin for an appeal in respect of a disability payment. The first thing the Department should consider is going down to meet such people and investigate the case if there is to be an appeal. We should not be bringing people all the way to Dublin when they are trying to fight a case for their loved ones.

The Government needs to learn from people with disabilities and the people who work with them that they want to contribute in the same way as everybody else. The Government makes everything so difficult. It makes everything circle about the Departments in Dublin. That needs to change. The Government needs to ensure those services come to other counties. We must ensure there are services in place to allow people from the Department to come down to other areas of the country to meet people with disabilities.

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