Limerick council backs call to end means-testing for disability grants

LIMERICK City and County Council has backed the call for an end to means-testing in schemes designed to support people with disabilities.

The motion, proposed by Fine Gael leader, Cllr John Sheahan, called for the introduction of a “universal scheme to provide for the care and needs of people with disability, focusing solely on the person with disability and not on the household income as is the case at present.”

The council will now write to the Taoiseach Leo Varadker, to Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, to Health Minister Simon Harris and Disability Minister Finian McGrath, asking them to instruct their departments to introduce such a scheme.

“I had a very similar motion 12 months ago but have heard nothing back from the Ministers,” Cllr Sheahan told the Limerick Leader.

“We need to move away from the situation where everything is means-tested,” he went on. A lot of parents with children with disability qualify for nothing, he said, especially if both parents are working. Even if one parent gives up work to care for the child, and they have a reduced income, they don’t qualify as the threshold for many of the supports  is very low.

“They are means-tested for everything: for carers’ allowance, for respite care, for special equipment, for the house adaptation scheme,” he said.

He also pointed out that different areas of the HSE operated different ways of delivering supports. “You could have a situation where a child from West Limerick, within the HSE Mid-West, who goes to a special school in Listowel, is sitting next to a child from Kerry within HSE South, but both are not treated the same,” he explained.

There are additional costs for families with someone with a disability and he would like to see provision made for a universal scheme in the next budget. At the very least, he said, the government could begin with an universal scheme for those under 18.

“I have asked for this issue to remain on the agenda of Limerick City and County Council until budget time,” he added.

“At least councillors are talking about it but there is a bigger discussion to be had about equality,”said Richard Enright who had to crowd fundraise to pay for their home adaptation for son Shane.