People with disabilities must protest
Rita Lawlor, 52, who has an intellectual disability, said “someone with a big strong voice” needs to stand up and speak out for the sector.
“I am raging about the cuts,” she said. “We are afraid they are going to keep cutting us. We need to stand up like the old people did when the Government threatened to cut the medical card.”
Rita lives independently in Dublin and relies on her benefits to live. She says the cost of living is going up, but what she gets in disability and rent supplement will be cut.
She believes things will never be as bad as what is coming down the tracks.
Under the terms of the budget, the €8 weekly cut to disability allowance comes on top of an €8.30 cut last year, amounting to €16.30 a week in just two years, dropping the allowance from €204.30 in 2008 to €188.
Rita believes because the old age pensioners got together and lobbied last year over the threat to their medical card, the Government is afraid to take money from them.
“People need to get out and stand up to them, Since that, they listened to them. There is nobody for disabilities that will speak up
“We need a lot more voices than we have at the moment. They are still doing the cuts — they won’t listen”
Rita feels the cost of living is going up, and she does not know if she will be able to manage living alone if things get worse.
“How are people on low money supposed to be able to afford anything? We can’t afford any more cuts. There will be new taxes over the four years and bills are going up too. The fear is that I would end up having to live in a residential setting and I don’t want that.”
A spokesperson for Inclusion Ireland said there is no Croke Park Agreement for people with disabilities
The organisation for people with disabilities said the budget cuts are “at variance with the National Disability Strategy”, which is often spoken about by Government as evidence of their commitment to people with disabilities.
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