People with Disabilities did not share Riches of Boom but are asked to share Pain of Economic Downturn

Inclusion Ireland, the national association for people with an intellectual disability, says it is relieved that social welfare allowances such as disability benefit, respite care grant, and the carers allowance have not been touched in the emergency budget.

However, serious concerns remain over what will happen in June of this year when young people with special needs leave school and need to move forward into rehabilitative training programmes and days services. There are also concerns over what will happen in emergency cases, such as when elderly parents of a son or daughter with an intellectual disability can no longer have their child living at home.

Services for people with a disability are provided by the HSE and voluntary service providers. Already, efficiency cuts have been sought in non-pay areas, which account for under 20% of costs. The majority of costs relate to staffing costs as in other areas of the health services. The failure to tackle the area of public sector reform in this Budget means that the inevitable further cuts will be made at the expense of the delivery of frontline services to people with a disability.

Inclusion Ireland calls on the government, those providing care to people with a disability and the social partners to come together to look at ways of ensuring frontline services are protected. Inclusion Ireland calls on Minister Lenihan to deliver on his statement today that "maximum protection will be given to those most in need".

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