This article is from page 2 of the 2013-05-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
DISABLED people in Clare believe that they are being lined up for major funding cuts in this year’s budget – and that a survey commissioned by the Department of Health will be used to justify these cuts.
The survey, which was commissioned by the Department of Health as part of the public consultation into the future Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant, has been completed by scores of disabled people in Clare over the past two weeks.
According to disabled campaigner Dermot Hayes, the survey has been designed in such a way as will help the Department of Health justify future cuts to disabled people.
“The question which concerned us most was in relation to the mobility allowance. It seemed like the survey was guiding people to a particular answer, and it seems to me that that answer could be used to justify taking the allowance off us down the line,” he said.
“We were asked a lot of questions about public transport but many of the disabled [Clare] people taking this survey are living in an area where they would never see a bus. That’s the reality for a lot of these people.
“I thought that the whole way that the survey was concocted was outlandish – it is like they were trying to trick people into answering questions in a way that suits themselves. We are really worried about how this survey will be used down the line and how the responses will be analyses and presented.
“At the moment I think [disabled] people are scared. They don’t want to complain for fear of what might happen to them if they do. People are just about surviving and it seems that more cuts are being lined up.”
The survey also asks people to rate what level of disability is most de- serving of the transportation grants. This could be used by the department to divide the disabled community in Clare – and justify the removal of the transportation grants from people with less profound disabilities.
A public meeting for disabled people and their family will take place at the West County in Clare this Friday, May 24 from 10.30am to 1pm.
Guest speaker for the event will be Martin Naughton, activist and member of the Motorised Grant Department Review Group, disabled campaigner Leigh Gath and local disabled campaigners Thomas Connole and Ann Marie Flanagan.