Disabled man’s allowance cut to pay for care

A SEVERELY physically and mentally disabled man is to lose three quarters of his disability allowance towards the cost of his respite care.

The 30-year-old from Co Kilkenny receives €203 per week – but was told this month that €153.25 will now be deducted towards the cost of his upkeep in a residential care home.

Kilkenny County Councillor Michael O’Brien, who raised the issue at yesterday’s regional health forum of the Health Service Executive (HSE) South, said the deduction would have major implications for the man’s family, whose only source of income is his father’s invalidity pension.