Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

Department of Social Protection

Citizen Information Services

6:00 pm

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 194: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will advise the Citizens Information Board that they should include a heading of disability on their homepage under which all potential entitlements for children and adults with disabilities could be grouped. [12562/11]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The citizens information website is divided into fourteen categories, which are all accessible from the www.citizensinformation.ie homepage: Birth, Family and Relationships; Consumer Affairs; Death and Bereavement; Education and Training; Employment; Environment; Government in Ireland; Health; Housing; Justice; Money and Tax; Moving Country; Social Welfare; and Travel and Recreation.

Information for people with disabilities is integrated into the website's main categories. For example, information on disability allowance can be found in the "Disability and Illness" section in the Social Welfare category, and information on the motorised transport grant can be found in the "Transport and disability" section in the Travel and Recreation category.

There are also a number of documents that aim to cut across the website's categories and provide an overview of a particular area such as the "Caring for a child with a disability" and "Working with a disability" documents. A checklist is also included which references relevant information in the areas of social welfare, transport and mobility, work, education and training, health services and taxation. The publication "Entitlements for People with Disabilities", which was updated in 2010, and a new publication "Entitlements for children with disabilities" are also available on the Citizens Information Board website www.citizensinformationboard.ie. In addition, the www.assistireland.ie website is a comprehensive, online database of assistive technologies and suppliers.

However, in order to improve access and provide multiple paths to information on the website the Citizens Information Board is currently working on the development of checklists for various categories of people, including people with disabilities. The checklists will help people to navigate the site by having an overview of all potential entitlements relevant to their particular circumstances and a link to the relevant sections of the website.

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