People with disabilities ‘must fight against cuts’

PEOPLE with disabilities may have to take to the streets in the same numbers as older people to highlight the relentless cuts being made to their payments and services, the head of a national cross-disability organisation said yesterday.

Donie O’Leary, national chairman of People with Disabilities in Ireland, said the older generation had been heeded after more than 15,000 people, mostly pensioners, protested outside the Dáil in October 2008 over the withdrawal of the universal medical card for the over 70s.

Around 400,000 people in Ireland — one in 10 of the population — have some form of disability.

Mr O’Leary said cuts by the Health Service Executive had been right across the board.

“In the recent budget, €8.60 was removed from a very basic disability allowance and a carers’ allowance. Older people had their money ring-fenced because they took to the streets and frightened the bejaysus out of the Government,” said Mr O’Leary.

“People with disabilities are an easy hit — it is like taking sweets from a child. I believe we will have to show that we are not accepting cuts any more. If necessary, we can take to the streets as well,” he said.

A new study by Muscular Dystrophy Ireland shows that little has changed for the better since the Central Statistics Office National Disability Survey 2006.

The CSO study showed people with disabilities experience serious difficulties in many aspects of their daily lives.

Money shortages were the most common reason cited for not making improvements to their homes.

A third of adults with a disability have difficulty doing routine tasks in their homes, with almost 20% experiencing a lot of difficulty. Family members are relied upon the most to provide support, with 42% receiving such help. Chief executive of Muscular Dystrophy Ireland Joe Mooney said their survey conducted in 2009 reflected a lot of the CSO’s key findings.

Kerry football legend Eoin “Bomber” Liston, who launched Muscular Dystrophy Ireland’s Valentines Day Have a Heart Campaign yesterday, said he was appalled that so many people with muscular dystrophy were being denied vital services to manage and alleviate the muscle-wasting condition.