Intellectually disabled to be 'left with €50'
HUNDREDS of people with an intellectual disability living in residential homes will be left with just over €50 in their pockets each week because of jumps in charges, it was claimed yesterday.
The changes will mean people with an intellectual disability will pay 75pc of their disability allowance for their upkeep.
There will also be changes in long-stay charges which mostly affect older people.
These are payable after 30 days in a public ward of an acute hospital or in a long-stay public facility such as an HSE-run nursing home.
From January, they will increase by €31.44 a week for facilities where 24-hour nursing care is available, and by €23.58 a week for facilities where 24-hour care is not available. The hike brings long-stay charges up to 80pc of the non-contributory State pension.
Disability lobby group Inclusion Ireland said that the extra levy would leave people with an intellectual disability in residential homes with just €51.05 a week in their pockets.
"The Government's rationale for raising the charge, which is also applied to older people in nursing homes, is that it will reflect the increase in the pension since 2005," chief executive Deirdre Carroll said .
"But 70pc of people with an intellectual disability who are in residential care are under 55 years old and receiving a disability allowance, not a pension," she added.
"The Government also contends that these rates are maximum charges but people's needs are not always individually assessed and the maximum charge is routinely applied."
The organisation argued that leaving people with an intellectual disability with just €51.05 a week to spend after the charges are deducted from their disability allowance does not promote inclusion into society.
"This charge is also being increased at a time when we still have no standards or independent inspection of residential services for people with an intellectual disability," according to Ms Carroll.
"It is now . . . 10 days before the new rate of charges is to be brought in and we are still getting calls from people . . . who did not know that this increase was coming," she added.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
