Charity warns over charges to disabled

MANY intellectually disabled persons in State-funded residential care are being charged excessive fees, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

As a result, they are being left with as little as €45 a week to live on.

Over 30% of those with intellectual disabilities - approximately 7,500 people - live in residential homes run by the health services or by voluntary organisations which receive State funding.

If they offer nursing care, such facilities can charge disabled people between €90 and €120 a week under legislation introduced last year.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs heard that it remains unclear whether residential facilities which do not offer nursing care can charge disabled people. Nonetheless, Deirdre Carroll, chief executive officer of Inclusion Ireland, the national association for people with an intellectual disability, said that some facilities were charging.

“The regulations as they stand do not appear to cover this group... and it is not clear that they ever had, or continue to have, a legal right to levy charges,” Ms Carroll said.

In both instances, the money is usually deducted from the person’s Disability Allowance, the top rate of which is e165 a week.

This means that some people are left with just €45 for themselves.

“It is our view that these charges are excessive and leave little money for people to live with dignity,” said Ms Carroll. She told the committee that a fee of €60 a week would be “legitimate and fair”.

The basis for the fees came via last year’s legislation, introduced after it emerged the State had been illegally charging for public nursing-home care.

Committee members condemned the excessive charging of disabled persons. Fine Gael TD David Staunton said the situation “smacks of the nursing home charges debacle”.

Chairman, Labour TD Willie Penrose promised the committee, would investigate the situation.

Meanwhile, Inclusion Ireland also expressed concern about the financial rights of the intellectually disabled.

“Some people with an intellectual disability do not have the capacity to manage their financial affairs,” Ms Carroll said.

In such cases, legislation allows for “agents” - usually family members or service providers - to be appointed to handle the individual’s money.

“There is no system of monitoring or supervising how agents deal with this money,” Ms Carroll said.