A call for a payment to be made to disabled people to cover rising fuel costs to prevent them falling into deeper poverty has been made by an independent group representing their interests.
People with Disabilities in Ireland (PwDI), a national organisation representing all people with disabilities, has urged the Government to act now and introduce a weekly cost of disability payment.Chief executive Michael Ringrose said rising fuel costs made it imperative that the Minister for Finance introduced a weekly payment in this year's budget.
"People with disabilities have higher fuel, transport and general cost of living expenses than the rest of the community," he said.
The need for the cost of disability payment was very well-established. A National Disability Authority (NDA) report, published last year, found that a weekly payment of €40 was needed to meet the extra costs associated with a high level of disability, ranging down to €10 for moderate disabilities, he said.
"The Government has committed itself to the national disability strategy. If this strategy means anything, then the Government must act now and prevent people with disabilities from falling deeper into poverty," Mr Ringrose said.
This was an equality issue. A person with a disability on the same income as a person without a disability had a lower standard of living because of the extra costs associated with disability, he said.
"It's time for the Government to act on the issue. It's now almost 10 years since the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities first recommended such a payment," Mr Ringrose pointed out.
He referred to a joint NDA/Equality Authority report published last year, Disability and Social Inclusion in Ireland.
The report found that, from 1994 to 2001, the percentage of adults with a chronic illness or disability at risk of poverty rose sharply from 21 per cent to 38 per cent.
This was at a time when the incidence of poverty risk for other adults was stable at about 17 per cent.