MINISTER OF State with Responsibility for Disability John Moloney has insisted the Brothers of Charity Services in Galway will not have to reduce expenditure by a further €2 million this year.
A delegation from the Brothers of Charity Services Ireland met Minister for Health Mary Harney and Mr Moloney yesterday. A spokesman for the brothers said the meeting was to discuss an additional €2 million in cutbacks in Galway which the Health Service Executive had “indicated” last Friday.
Afterwards, Mr Moloney confirmed “that will not go ahead”. He said there had never been an intention to target frontline services, particular respite care.
The Brothers’ spokesman said that, following the meeting, they were optimistic the funding level agreed between the HSE and the Brothers of Charity Services Galway in April would remain intact and that no further funding cuts would be made to their budget in 2010.
“The Brothers of Charity and the HSE also agreed today that the discontinuance of the respite services in Limerick would be re-examined,” he added. Taoiseach Brian Cowen earlier told the Dáil respite services for people with disabilities would not be cut and insisted the most vulnerable people in society would be protected.
A passionate and vocal crowd of up to 1,800 took part in a demonstration in Dublin yesterday to protest against cuts in services for people with disabilities.
Protesters, led by intellectual disabilities association Inclusion Ireland, walked from the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square to the Dáil to express their concern about cutbacks.
They had travelled from many parts of the country, including Ballinasloe, Co Galway, and Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, as well as from Dublin to take part in the event. Smaller protests were held in Galway and Mayo.
Protesters raised concerns about recent cuts in respite care, day and residential services and in home support services for those with disabilities.
They said that since October 2008, education supports for people with a disability had been seriously cut back; special needs assistants had been reduced or cut and more than 500 children were without special classes in mainstream schools since February 2009. They also said some community accommodation centres were being amalgamated with other accommodation centres and people were being forced to move out of what were now their homes.
Outside the Dáil the crowd was addressed by Frieda Finlay, chairwoman of Inclusion Ireland, who said people with intellectual disabilities and their families wanted to “stand up against the dreadful effect the cuts are having on services”.
“We have got to make this Government listen to us,” she said. “This march is just the beginning.” She said demonstrators were representing thousands of other people who could not be present because of their disabilities. They could no longer be treated with disrespect, as though they were second-class citizens, she said.
“It is outrageous that it has come to this. What have people with disabilities done to be threatened and treated like this?” she asked.
“People with intellectual disabilities are frightened and worried because they do not know what is going to happen to them. Some are even losing their homes.” Ms Finlay also called for greater media coverage of the issues.
Frank Connaty, from Galway, told the crowd the protest was needed because there had been a “fundamental failure of Government and Government policy”. They were dealing with a HSE “which was bureaucratic and unaccountable and people who have no idea what these basic services mean to us”, he said.
He called on Minister for Health Mary Harney and Mr Cowen to revisit disability services. He asked why, if the Government and the HSE were saying frontline services were not being affected, frontline services were being cut back.
“We cannot allow these cuts to happen; lives are being lost and families’ lives are absolutely devastated,” Mr Connaty said.