Madam, - I congratulate you for publishing the two letters in your edition of September 27th on the shortcomings in the Disability Bill and add my support.
Dr Mark Harrold refers to the Bill as a backward step and Father Peter McVerry, while welcoming parts of the Bill, stresses the fact that in spite of increases in the tax intake the social service cuts were not reversed. Such rights abuses impose terrible hardships on the disabled people and their families. Must we remain deaf to the cries of our brothers and sisters?
Can we not have a rights-based legislation for disabled people? We can afford it. We should have it. - Yours, etc.,
SHEAMUS DUNDON, (Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics, RCSI), Bushy Park Road, Dublin 6.
Madam, - The long-awaited Disability Bill has at last been published with great pomp and ceremony, but the strategy outlined in the Bill will be seen as a great disappointment and a betrayal of the disability movement. The proposal will neither provide a "rights-based" service nor the resources to provide the service.
The Taoiseach and half the cabinet, who attended the launch of the Bill, promised that the necessary resources would be provided. I would suggest that there should be a practical demonstration of this immediately.
The Disabled Persons Grant (DPG) assists old and young persons with a disability to modify their houses, thereby enabling them to live in dignity and comfort at home - the alternative being institutional care. There is a shortfall of €4 million for the provision of these grants in Co Kildare and a similar situation in other counties. There is a 10-month waiting list for assessment for the grant in Co Kildare and since July of this year no new applications are being accepted.
If the Taoiseach and his Ministers are sincere about providing the resources for disability services, could I suggest that he immediately provides the funds needed to clear the backlog in Co Kildare and elsewhere and provide for its funding in future by placing the grant on a statutory basis? - Yours, etc.,
Cllr PADDY McNAMARA, Clane Road, Sallins, Co Kildare.