Thomas Pringle TD has slammed the government’s decision to slash the Mobility Allowance Scheme and the Motorised Transport Grant Scheme, describing it as “an atrocity targeting yet again some of the most vulnerable in our society”.
“Following the decision of the government to slash these mobility payments to the 5,000 people in receipt of them, all of these people with disabilities who need these payments in order to leave their house will now be down €208 per month. This is an absolute disgrace targeting yet again some of the most vulnerable in our society.
“The government has said it had no choice as the exclusion of people over the age of 65 from the Mobility Allowance Scheme was illegal and breached equality law, and that the motorised transport grant operates on the basis of a very narrow definition of disability, so they decided to abolish it.
“But they have a choice – this has been known by the current government for the past 2 years and the department for 13 years, there was plenty of time to resolve this situation so that no person in need of these payments to get around would be deprived.
“All of those who are currently receiving these payments will continue to get them for the next four months, however they were not notified of this situation beforehand and are in great distress, while new applications won’t be considered so those who were intending to apply have now been left in the dark. I have had very upset people in Donegal contacting me about this and they are deeply concerned about being confined to their homes as public transport is next to non-existent for everyone in Donegal.
“The Minister for Disabilities Kathleen Lynch has said that they will ring-fence the €10.6 million used for these payments to develop a transport system for everyone in the country and has promised a review the transport needs of people with disabilities.
“It is highly unlikely that within the next 4 months, when these payments are due to end, that the government will have devised and implemented a public transport strategy which will take the transport needs of everyone in the country, including those with disabilities, into consideration. Even if the review is completed in the next few months, it would still be a long way off from seeing any change on the ground.
“The people that have been targeted today are individuals who are unable to use public transport and for those who need to adapt their vehicles for driving. What are these people supposed to do while the government are awaiting yet another one of their infamous reviews?
“What needs to be done is to widen this scheme so that all those who are legally eligible to apply can do so, the department and the government have had years to resolve this, this is their mess to fix,” stated Pringle.