Changes in the way Mobility assistance payments are made to people with a disability are mean-spirited and despicable according to Workers’ Party Councillor Ted Tynan.

Cllr. Tynan said that the latest cost cutting measure from the government will leave some disabled people virtually prisoners in their own home as they no longer have control on when and how they access taxi services.

Under the new scheme which was piloted by the HSE in Cork and is due to be introduced nationwide on October 1^st the disabled person’s €50 a week mobility allowance is being replaced with a €30 a week taxi voucher.  However the user is obliged to use a nominated taxi company (ABC Cabs in Cork city) and their limited number of wheelchair adapted cabs is often unavailable when they are providing school and other contracts.

Cllr. Tynan said he had already been contacted by one disabled person who had to pay €21.60 out of their €30 weekly voucher allowance for a single return visit to a hospital clinic.  “This means”, said Cllr. Tynan, “that this individual will effectively be a prisoner in her home and may be forced to miss other important appointments.  The new mobility scheme is a miserly and grubby cut which will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on the life quality of those affected by it.

The Workers’ Party Councillor called for the cancellation of the pilot plan and for the return of the old Mobility Grant and its extension to those over 65s who were previously excluded from it.

“If Minister Kathleen Lynch and her colleagues have hearts then they will scrap this despicable programme and ensure that disabled people can have their mobility and independence restored”, said Cllr. Tynan.