DISABILITY ALLOWANCE:THE DECISION to disallow teenagers with disabilities aged 16 and 17 from claiming disability allowance will yield but a pittance in funds for the exchequer, it was claimed yesterday.
Fine Gael spokesperson on disability issues, David Stanton TD, revealed that over 2,000 children will be affected by the Disability Allowance cut, but that this will only represent a saving of 0.07 per cent of the welfare budget.
"This shows that the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable have been targeted by Fianna Fáil's vicious, cruel Budget."
The allowance of €197 a week was paid to people from the age of 16 but, as a result of the Budget, the qualifying age was raised to 18.
HSE figures show that, as of January 31st this year, 4,294 people with disabilities aged 16, 17, 18 and 19 claimed the allowance.
Mr Stanton said the cut meant more than 2,000 underage children will lose out. "Even though these children can receive the Domiciliary Care Allowance, the Disability Allowance cut will still result in a net loss of €6,500 a year for every 16- and 17-year-old child with a disability. This represents a saving of €14 million a year to the exchequer. Considering that the overall social welfare budget is €19.5 billion, attacking children with disabilities saves a mere 0.07 per cent of the overall budget."
Mr Stanton said it was ridiculous that Minister for Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin was targeting children with disabilities. The cut was cruel, unfair and callous.
"The Government should have scrapped e-voting machines, tackled the banks with a €1.5 billion fee per year for the guarantee scheme, implemented a public sector pay freeze for high earners and stopped supporting irresponsible developers. Instead children with disabilities were targeted".