Disabled are 'penalised' for choosing work

People with disabilities are being penalised by the Government for choosing to work, through the withdrawal of their medical cards and other essential benefits if they earn more than €123 per week, according to a disabilities body.

The Department of Health and the Department of Social and Family Affairs failed to take the cost of living with a disability into account when assessing people's entitlements to benefits, said the chief executive of People with Disabilities in Ireland, Mr Michael Ringrose.

He explained: "An employer may well want to pay more, but the disabled person would lose their welfare benefits. It would be a giant leap for the employer to offset the value of the medical card; in many cases they just couldn't afford to do it."

Disabled people were assessed for entitlements on the same basis as the abled-bodied even though they were, by definition, far more reliant on medical benefits.

"The cost of the disability must be taken into account and at present it isn't. There is the cost of transport, from work, schools or hospital, equipment for wheelchairs, adaptation of accommodation. All of these are ordinary parts of a disabled person's life."

The failure of Government to acknowledge these costs was creating a "collateral disincentive" to work, Mr Ringrose said.

"People whose lives are surrounded by such expense feel secure and protected by benefits and allowances, and it's very hard to generate the confidence in them to move into work if they're afraid they won't survive financially."

The association is calling on the Government to establish a working group to review the reduction of benefits for the disabled who take up work.

The Department of Health would be willing to examine any proposals in relation to the medical card put before it, a spokeswoman said.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs said it operates a number of schemes aimed at helping disabled people into the workforce, including a back-to-work scheme and a back-to-education allowance.