Budget 2018 ‘ignored’ those with disabilty’
PEOPLE with disabilities were largely overlooked in Budget 2018 according to Sligo Leader Forum
“In a budget that claims to invest in housing and transport, people with disabilities were left looking in from the sidelines as neither a replacement scheme for Mobility Allowance or the Motorised Transport Grant was announced and no reference to the Housing Adaptation Grant was made,” said member, Jackie McBrearty.
He continued: “Living with a disability is expensive. For some, the extra transport costs were met in past through the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant in 2013.
“With public transport a non option for those of us in rural areas, this budget has done little to address these extra costs like transport. The needs of people with disabilities haven’t changes in terms of getting to hospital appointments or to and from work, the support to do so however has changed.
“For some of our members, we have the costs of our guide dogs to worry about, dog food, pet insurance and vet bills. For others, it is extra heat or fuel to manage their pain, specific foods to manage specialised diets. Some may now also be impacted by the sugar tax, particularly those who use drinks like Lucozade to manage their diabetes. There are huge invisible costs of disability. With little real change in investment in people with disabilities, we expect that people with disabilities will continue to remain at higher risk of poverty and homelessness.”
“Housing is a huge ongoing issue for our members across the country. People with disabilities are currently on the social housing waiting list.
“Many of our members are already on the waiting list for social housing for a long time despite their medical priority status.
“We are the lucky ones in Sligo. Sligo Council have great staff that have continually worked with us around many local issues in Sligo.
“Across the country calls for funding home supports and personal assistance were made to support people with disabilities who wish to do so to live independently. There was no good news there in the budget for us. Without investment in supports like Personal Assistance, we still risk being forced in to institutions or nursing homes.”
The Sligo Centre for Independent Living Leader Forum recognised some of the positive elements of the budget but emphasised that the government has a long way to go in terms of realising equality for people with disabilities.
“We welcome the additional €5 per week for those in receipt of social welfare payments like Disability Allowance, the reduction in prescription charges and drug threshold payment, and changes to the telephone allowance and VAT relief for charities.
“However, this Budget does little to address the inequality and exclusion of people with disabilities from economic and community life. We now wait for the sectoral budgets for more detail.
“Without recognition of the rights of people with disabilities in this budget, despite repeated promises from government, now more than ever we need the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), said Jackie McBrearty, of the Sligo Leader Forum.
He added: “There are over 600,000 people in Ireland with a disability, that’s 13.5% of the population. We deserve the protection of our rights and for this reason, again, we call for the immediate ratification of the UNCRPD.
“We believe in rights not charity and we want to play an active part in society, not be excluded from it. We want to be part of our communities, to work, to access education, use public transport and avail of the same opportunities as everyone else.”
The Center for Independent Living (CIL), who support the Leader Forum groups around the country, recognise that the rise in consistent poverty rates for people with disabilities has risen from 14% to 22% in 2015 and that the increase of €5 a week in Disability Allowance falls short of what the €20 CIL and other disability groups had said was necessary to lift people out of poverty.
Damien Walshe, CIL CEO said: “It is hard for people with disabilities to share Minister Donohoe’s view that Budget 2018 will “promote fairness and provide for sustained improvements in people’s lives”.
“The lack of specific references to Personal Assistant hours to further support independent living suggests that human rights and equality for people with disabilities have once again ignored on budget day.”