Written Answers. - Disabilities Report.
Tom Moffatt
Question:
33
Dr. Moffatt
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities which are of relevance to his Department; and the action, if any, which he has proposed to take in relation to each recommendation.
[2367/97]
I refer the Deputy to my earlier replies to Question No. 19, on Wednesday, 27 November, 1996 and Question No. 181 on Tuesday, 10 December, 1996 on this matter.
The report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities contains a wide range of recommendations which are of relevance to my Department. Some of these recommendations are specific to the services administered by my Department, while others apply equally to all Departments.
The main recommendations contained in the report in relation to the services for which I have specific responsibility are: the establishment of a non-means tested payment to compensate for loss of income due to an incapacity for full-time work, or work to full potential to be known as a disability pension. This payment would replace the existing disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind person's pension and would be extended to cover people with disabilities who are living in part-time residential settings; the transfer of administration of the domiciliary care allowance and motorised transport grant schemes from the health boards to the Department of Social Welfare; changes in the financial supports available to carers, including an extension of the carer's allowance on a means-tested basis to all carers; the achievement of the payment rates recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare as a matter of priority; and specific regard should be given by the Government within any anti-poverty strategy to combating the disproportionate impact of poverty on people with disabilities.
In addition, the report contains many recommendations which apply to all Departments. For instance, the report recommends that all Departments should review the definitions of disability in the legislation under their remit; each Department should carry out a physical access review and plan to ensure, within five years, that all their premises are accessible to people with disabilities; Departments and State agencies should provide disability awareness training for all staff; and people with disabilities should be directly represented on relevant boards.
Arising from the findings contained in the report, the Government has decided to prepare a plan of action on the rights of people with disabilities. The Minister for Equality and Law Reform has also been authorised to establish a monitoring committee will comprise organistation of the commission's recommendations. The monitoring committee will comprise organisations representing people with disabilities, their families and carers and service providers. The social partners and Departments, including my own Department, will also be represented on the monitoring committee.
In addition, the Minister for Equality and Law Reform has recently established an interdepartmental task force to prepare the Government's plan of action in response to the report. The task force is due to report by the end of June. As soon as the Government's plan has been agreed I will be in a position to indicate the steps which I will be taking to implement those recommendations for which my Department has responsibility.
In the meantime, I have provided for the introduction of a comprehensive package of measures in this year's budget to further assist people with disabilities, many of which are in line with the commission's recommendations. These measures include; special increases in social welfare rates over and above the rate of inflation, which bring invalidity pension up to the target rate recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare (CSW) and disability allowance, blind person's pension and disability benefit up from 95 per cent to 98 per cent of the CSW rate; a new part payment of disability allowance for those in part-time residential care; two personal rates to be paid to couples where one is getting disability allowance and the other either invalidity pension or old age pension, the disregard of earnings from rehabilitative employment is being increased to £36.30 a week in the case of disability allowance, blind person's pension and supplementary welfare allowance; an additional payment of 50 per cent is to be paid to recipients of carer's allowance providing care to more than one person; the full-time care and attention condition is being relaxed for carer's allowance purposes where the care recipient is attending a recognised rehabilitative course or day care centre; a new social assistance scheme — sickness allowance — is being introduced for those incapable of work and not entitled to disability benefit or not permanently incapacitated. In parallel with this, disability benefit and invalidity pension are being respectively renamed sickness benefit and disability pension, in line with the commission's recommendations; constant attendance allowance is being extended to disablement pensioners who are also receiving another social insurance payment; survivor's benefit under the occupational injuries benefit scheme will be paid where disablement of 50 per cent or more has been assessed, regardless of the cause of death; the free travel companion pass is being extended to all registered blind persons and the conditions for entitlement to the free telephone rental allowance are being relaxed to allow other persons to reside with the recipient without affecting their entitlement; and 1,000 places are being reserved under the back to work allowance scheme for a pilot scheme for people with disabilities.
As can be seen therefore, I have already taken significant steps to further the position of people with disabilities, in advance of the Government's action plan being finalised.
