John Kelly (Labour)

Like everybody else I support calls for a review of any proposed cuts in disability payments. I supported Senator O'Brien yesterday on that issue. However, I reiterate my point that situations have arisen over the past years in which 16 year-olds in second level going on to third level were receiving a disability allowance and were graduating with a degree and obtaining employment. This indicates that perhaps these people should not have been receiving disability allowance in the first place. In my view there is a need for a two-tier system whereby severely disabled people are given the full rate of disability allowance while those with mild and moderate disability could be given an allowance along the lines of the jobseeker's allowance. On a related issue, a person aged 18 years and in receipt of a disability allowance gets €100 a week. I would insist that such persons qualify for a medical card. I call on the Leader to take note of this point because down through the years anyone with any income was assessed in their own right for a medical card. Since the transfer of the administration of the medical card scheme to the PCRS in Finglas, anyone in receipt of €100 a week in unemployment assistance is no longer eligible for a medical card and no longer assessed in his or her own right. They are now being lumped in with the family income. This is a new regulation and I want the Leader to bring this to the attention of the Minister. We need answers to why this has happened because if this is the case for those in receipt of €100 unemployment assistance, the same will apply if a person is getting €100 disability allowance.