{"id":1935,"date":"2022-10-24T11:19:16","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T10:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-must-reintroduce-mobility-supports-for-disabled-people\/"},"modified":"2022-10-24T11:19:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T10:19:16","slug":"government-must-reintroduce-mobility-supports-for-disabled-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/government-must-reintroduce-mobility-supports-for-disabled-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Government must reintroduce mobility supports for disabled people"},"content":{"rendered":"

The independence, mental health and employment prospects of disabled people is being limited, and in some cases completely erased<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Almost 10 years after the closure of two vital mobility schemes, the State is continuing to fail disabled people, according to Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns.<\/p>\n

Deputy Cairns, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on Disability, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2013, the Government discontinued the Mobility Allowance and the Motorised Transport Grant after the then Ombudsman found the schemes to be in breach of the Equal Status Act. This was because those over the age of 65 were not entitled to apply for either payment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, rather than simply widen eligibility criteria, the Government axed both payments. Disabled people and their families have now been waiting almost 10 years for replacement schemes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government has also created a deeply unfair situation whereby those who were already in receipt of the supports continue to receive them, but others in exactly the same position cannot access these or alternative schemes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government\u2019s own Cost of Disability Report found that it costs between \u20ac9,500 and \u20ac11,700 more every year to live with a disability in Ireland. Mobility, transport and communications represent almost one-quarter of this extra expense. People who are blind or have a serious vision impairment have to pay \u20ac737 extra; for individuals with mobility difficulties it is \u20ac500; and for chronic illnesses it is between \u20ac600 and \u20ac735.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe independence, mental health and employment prospects of disabled people is being limited, and in some cases completely erased, by the failure of successive governments to replace these vital transport schemes. The delay is inexcusable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ombudsman\u2019s report on this situation, released in November 2021, was unequivocal in condemning the lack of action. He wrote: \u2018Nine years later, there is no evidence of any real progress that would serve to enhance the lives of those for whom these schemes were intended to assist with their daily lives. This is of huge concern to me.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cDisabled people deserve better than two defunct schemes and a third \u2013 the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme – that is so excessively restrictive it is impossible to access.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter nearly a decade of delay, the Government must now tell us when these schemes will be replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n

October 24, 2022<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The independence, mental health and employment prospects of disabled people is being limited, and in some cases completely erased Almost 10 years after the closure of two vital mobility schemes, the State is continuing to fail disabled people, according to Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns. Deputy Cairns, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on Disability, said: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,400,7,399],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-holly-cairns","category-press-release","category-tds"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment must reintroduce mobility supports for disabled people - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/government-must-reintroduce-mobility-supports-for-disabled-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government must reintroduce mobility supports for disabled people - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The independence, mental health and employment prospects of disabled people is being limited, and in some cases completely erased Almost 10 years after the closure of two vital mobility schemes, the State is continuing to fail disabled people, according to Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns. 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