Sir, – Every week I open The Irish Times to find a new assault from this Government, supposedly a mixed group of Christian Democrats and Socialists, against the disabled citizens of this State.
In the latest Government wheeze, you reported (Home News, April 10th) that disability allowance for under-18s should be scrapped, according to the report of an “expert” group to the Cabinet. In effect this would reduce the €188 a week paid to those young disabled citizens over 16 in this State with a payment to their family of the domiciliary care allowance which stands at €309.50 a month. In real terms this represents a cut in State assistance to these citizens of over 45 per cent in this already meagre support.
The unbelievably absurd assertion from this “expert” group to justify this latest attack on our most vulnerable citizens is that the group believed there was “strong evidence that [disability allowance] can encourage early school-leaving and generate welfare dependency” in relation to those who receive this benefit at the age of 16.
My six-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy, attends a special needs school (where her class lost an SNA this year) – and is unable to walk, talk or toilet herself. This situation is, sadly, unlikely to radically change when she turns 16. It is equally unlikely her education will continue much past the State requirement of 16. At which point, does this group believe that the State providing support to her and her family will encourage her to become more dependent than she already is on the kindness of strangers? How much more or less dependent will this make her survival on what we used to call the support of society or community (until people like the late unlamented Margaret Thatcher told us it didn’t exist anymore)?
It is worth noting this new proposed cut comes on top of the cut in the respite care allowance of 20 per cent to the same families and the recent announcement that the fund available for the adaptation of housing for those with disabilities has been cut by 40 per cent from a total of €54 to €34 million per annum.
Perhaps this administration could now explain to those who are disabled and to those of us who care for them what they propose we should do with our disabled family members now that the State has clearly indicated it is going to utterly abandon any responsibility towards their care or upkeep? – Yours, etc,
JONATHAN SHANKEY,
Mary’s Crescent,
Walkinstown,
Dublin 12.