The failure of the Department of Health and Children to restore subsidies on medical items for paralysed people before Christmas was criticised yesterday by the Spinal Injuries Action Association (SIAA).
The association said it had hoped the cuts would be reversed by now but that it has been unable to get information from the Department of Health as to what was happening.
The cuts in subsidies affect people who are over the income limit for a medical card. They have added £50 to £100 a month to the cost to paralysed people of essential medical items.
Mr Colm Whooley, of the SIAA, said people were so incensed by the cutbacks that some were talking about chaining themselves to the railings at Government Buildings.
There was 80 per cent unemployment among people with spinal injuries, he said. Some of these people could be at work but they were afraid of losing their benefits.
Many people had put off buying new supplies in the hope that the cuts would be reversed, but now they had reached the point where they had no choice but to pay the extra amounts, he said. The Department is expected to comment on the issue this morning.