YOUR MONEY, YOUR RIGHTS!

- providing information to people with an intellectual disability about money

Mary O’Dea, Consumer Director at the Financial Regulator today said that people with an intellectual disability must continue to ask questions about their money. Ms. O’Dea was speaking at the launch of the Inclusion Ireland book ‘Making Decisions about Money’. Inclusion Ireland is the national association for people with an intellectual disability, and the book ‘Making Decisions about Money’ is designed to support people with an intellectual disability in dealing with their finances.

The book covers areas like budgeting, loans, savings and using an ATM. Eddie Hobbs also spoke at the launch. He said the “basic ingredients of how you manage money is where the debate should be at” and said anything is possible when you empower people. There were many people at the event, who discussed their own experience of trying to live on the disability allowance, with many hoping for an increase in the disability allowance when the Budget is announced.

The author of the book, Inclusion Ireland Training and Development Officer Sarah Lennon said:

““In the past people with an intellectual disability have not been considered able to make decisions about how to manage their money. Thankfully, this perception has changed in recent years, as more people with an intellectual disability are moving to community settings and with the right support, have proven very capable of managing their money. This book will contribute to people’s knowledge and will help promote the right of people with an intellectual disability to make decisions about their money”.

The book comes on foot of a series of workshops for people with an intellectual disability on money. There was massive interest in these workshops as people want more information on how to manage their money. The general public agrees that people with an intellectual disability should have the right to manage their own money. A recent attitudes poll commissioned by Inclusion Ireland shows 76 per cent of those surveyed feel people should have the right to manage their own money*. Given the current economic climate, shouldn’t we all have more information about how to manage our money?

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