6 Noll 2012, 10:01
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions will this afternoon meet with Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly to consider two Special Reports compiled by her office which criticise the Department of Health for not implementing a recommendations by her office.
6 December 2012
The Too Old to be Equal – A follow-up investigation centres on the Mobility Allowance, a monthly payment to those with a serious disability and who would benefit from occasional trips from home. The Ombudsman investigation centres on the upper age limit of 66 years of the scheme, which is contrary to the Equal Status Act 2000.
The Ombudsman Motorised Transport Grant report to Dáil and Seanad Éireann examines the grant-aid to severely disabled people in acquiring or adapting a car in order to retain employment. The Ombudsman recently completed an investigation of a complaint from a severely disabled young man whose application for a grant was refused by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Cathaoirleach of the Committee Peadar Tóibín says: “Both reports highlight a worrying attitude by the Department of Health and the HSE to grant aid for citizens with disabilities. The Mobility Allowance report found that, despite having agreed to do so, the Department of Health has failed to implement the removal of an upper age limit as recommended by the Ombudsman. A separate investigation found that the HSE's operation of the Motorised Transport Grant reflected an approach to disability which is unduly restrictive, improperly discriminatory and fails to have proper regard to the Equal Status Acts. Tomorrow’s meeting will allow our Committee explore why the recommendations by the Ombudsman in each case have not been implemented by the Department of Health.”
The Committee is also scheduled to examine petitions on the following topics:
- Issues arising in relation to the Back To Education Allowance Grant (BTEA)
- The application of the Freedom of Information Acts and the Ombudsman Acts to the Central Bank of Ireland
Access petitions system and view petitions received so far.
The meeting takes place this afternoon Thursday 6 December in Committee Room 4, LH 2000 at 12 noon, and will commence with consideration of the petitions in private. The Committee’s public proceedings can be viewed online via this link.
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit Alliance
Joan Collins, People Before Profit Alliance
Michael Conaghan, Labour
Alan Farrell, Fine Gael
Charles Flanagan, Fine Gael
Michael Healy-Rae, Independent
Peter Mathews, Fine Gael
Michael McCarthy, Labour (Leas-Chathaoirleach)
Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan, Labour
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Seán Ó Fearghaíl, Fianna Fáil
John Paul Phelan, Fine Gael
Peadar Tóibín, Sinn Féin (Cathaoirleach)
Senators:
Thomas Byrne
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh
Jimmy Harte
Tony Mulcahy
Susan O’Keeffe