Irish Wheelchair Association has launched our pre-budget submission calling on the government to make their last budget of the 33rd Dáil a positive legacy and not leave people with disabilities behind again.
“Frankly, people with disabilities feel abandoned by this Government and the budget is a chance for Minister Harris and his team to address that. Inclusion in society, education, and the workplace are all talked about regularly in the Dáil but now the Government have an opportunity to back it up with action. The failure to invest in their own reports and action plans continues to leave people behind,” says, Joan Carthy, Advocacy Manger with Irish Wheelchair Association.
The “Action Plan for Disability Service” or the “Cost of Disability” report have not been resourced,” and people with disabilities continue to live in extreme poverty and are unable to access services. The Action Plan for Disability Services covers six key areas, such as Specialist disability therapies, day services, personal assistant services, home care supports and residential care and outlines what is needed to resource them from 2022-2032, so Ireland is already four years behind.
The Cost of Disability report, published by the government in 2021, states that people with disabilities spend between €9,482 to €11,734 on their disability needs alone. Yet there is still no action plan and no investment. IWA has called on the government to raise the disability social welfare payments from €232 to €318 to match the standard poverty line figure and to introduce a system where there is an interim payment of €50 to cover the cost of disability until an appropriate consultation occurs with people with disabilities to determine an amount and a system which makes it fair for all.
Irish Wheelchair Association is calling on the government to make this last budget a positive legacy to support those who need it most in our society. IWA’s main asks are on Cost of Disability, Sectoral Reform and Funding, and investment in Personal Assistant Services which includes pay parity. Addressing these issues will pull people out of a poverty trap and support independent living, all the things Ireland signed up for in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
