This article is from page 20 of the 2008-10-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
TEENAGERS with disabilities are losing up to €7,200 a year in funding for subsidising support requirements and helping families with respite.
That’s according to Shannon coun- cillor Tony Mulcahy, whose 16-year- old daughter is one of the many Irish teenagers receiving the disability al- lowance.
The Fine Gael councillor was criti- cal of the Government’s decision to remove the disability allowance from teenagers until they are 18- years-old.
‘Those that have it will keep it, so my daughter will continue to get it. But this is not about one person, it is about all the other teenagers and their families who will now go with- out,” he said.
Until now, children with special needs or a disability received the domiciliary care allowance worth €299.50 a month until the age of 16, at which point they automatically re- ceived the disability allowance.
The Government has extended the first payment to those aged 18 and removed the disability allowance.
Under the 2009 budget, the disabil-
ity allowance will increase to €204 per week, leaving a difference be- tween the two payments of approxi- mately €500 per month.
Councillor Mulcahy said that the travel pass also came into place at 16, as did the medical card, but these will also be lost due to the new OA atetene
The availability of a medical card for 16 to 18 year olds with disabili- ties will now depend on their fami- ly’s income.
The issue was raised in the Dail on Wednesday by Deputy Kathleen Lynch who said there was over a two
year waiting list for occupational therapy, speech and language thera- py and social skills training.
“Families use the allowance to bypass the waiting list and seek the care and intervention necessary for their children. A cut in their allow- ance, €7,000 a year, will result in many children not getting the help they so urgently need.”
Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin said the pre- budget age limit was established in RSP
“It was linked to ability to work at a time when most young people
would have left school by the end of 16 years to enter the workforce,” she ene
“The social welfare system does not, in general, provide benefits which could be viewed as encour- aging early school leaving and, ac- cordingly, 18 is normally used as the minimum age for qualification for means-tested payments in a person’s own right.”
She said the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies said in its budget submission that the payment may al- low a child to fall into the depend- ency trap too early.