18 November 2008
PEOPLE WITH AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY TO PAY 75% OF DISABILITY ALLOWANCE ON LONG STAY CHARGES
Inclusion Ireland has strongly criticised the Government for raising rates of long stay health charges. People with an intellectual disability who are in residential services with 24 hour nursing care will now pay up to 75% of their disability allowance on long stay charges.
Inclusion Ireland CEO Deirdre Carroll says:“The increase in the rate for charges was introduced in Budget 2009, but Inclusion Ireland was unaware of the increase until we received a call from a worried family this week. It is dreadful to think that many families may only realise that this increase has been introduced when it is enforced in January.”
People who are receiving in-patient services in places where nursing care is provided 24 hours a day will now pay €153.25 a week, an increase of €33.25, and people who are in places where nursing care is not provided on a 24 hour basis will now pay €114.95 a week, an increase of €24.95. This allowance will come out of people’s Disability Allowance, which was increased by €6.50 a week to €204.30 in Budget 2009.
“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. While the charges are supposed to be a maximum rate and should allow for an assessment, in the majority of cases, people’s needs are not assessed and the maximum charge is enforced.”
Since their introduction in July 2005, charges for long stay care are not just confined to older people in nursing care, but also affects people with an intellectual disability living in residential services and community homes. Inclusion Ireland has a number of concerns about this system, as the needs of people with an intellectual disability and older people are very different.
At an Inclusion Ireland seminar on the issue of charges last year, one parent said while elderly people may go into nursing care for three or four years, people with an intellectual disability could spend fifty years in nursing care.
ENDS
