NCBI’s Response to Budget 2009

Release Date: Oct 28th, 2008

National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) is disappointed that the Government has failed to adequately protect the interests of blind and vision impaired people in the recent budget. In our pre-budget submission we made the case for above inflation rises to a range of benefits and allowances that would protect the people we work with from the spiralling costs of inflation.

With 50% of the population that we work with over the age of 65, the withdrawal of the medical card for the over 70’s was clearly a major concern to NCBI. Although the increase in the thresholds announced on 21st October will, it seems, ensure that over 95% of that population group retain this key benefit, the concern and confusion caused by the controversy has unsettled people and caused them unnecessary worries about the affordability of their health care.

NCBI also perceives a similar tampering with medical card scheme benefits between local areas throughout the country. Some HSE regions are refusing to pay for vital low vision aids, while in other HSE areas the same items will be covered under the scheme. A recent report published by the main organisations providing services to blind and vision impaired people found that 30,000 people in Ireland are living with significant sight loss simply because they are wearing no prescription glasses or the wrong ones. With the number of people in Ireland who are blind or vision impaired expected to increase by more than 170% over the next 25 years, it is crucial that we work with the Government to encourage and enable people to proactively manage their eyesight and prioritise their eye health. This will require increased investment and a consistent nationwide approach instead of regional variations.

NCBI’s other main concerns include the following issues:

The combination of the economic slowdown or recession and the expected increase in inflation next year, means that the modest increases to the range of benefits and allowances available to people who are blind and vision impaired will not off-set the difficulties that people on low incomes face in terms of meeting the rising costs of living.

The freeze on tax credits across the board will also result in a real terms reduction in income for people who currently receive this allowance. Due to the increased costs of disability and the fact that working people who are blind and vision impaired are among the lowest earners in the economy, this measure could impact greatly upon them.

The qualifying age for Disability Allowance will be raised from 16 to 18 years of age for new claimants from January 2009. This is another measure that poses financial problems for those receiving it and we would like to see it reversed. While the payment to people between these ages is being replaced by the Domiciliary Allowance, families that begin claiming the benefit in January 2009 could lose out on up to €14,000 over that two year period which families that are already claiming will have received. This is clearly a massive blow to families that are already struggling to meet the increased costs of disability for their children.

The cuts in investment in education will lead to a reduction in classroom assistants and visiting teacher services. This in turn will see the withdrawal of the existing support that is available to children with vision impairments that are currently integrated into schools around the country. By undermining the success of integrating these pupils with their peers it will increase the social exclusion that they experience as a result. These cuts are, therefore, likely to chip away at the significant progress that has been made to date under enlightened mainstream educational policies.

Overall, while we recognise that this is a difficult time for the nation’s economy NCBI is concerned that the Government is making savings within a section of our society that is least able to withstand cut backs.

Furthermore, NCBI is fearful that while spending on disability services is being presented as 2% of the total health spending in 2009, the reality is that we are facing a real terms cut of between 4% and 6%. Cuts at this level are intolerable to our sector which experienced a reduction in spending of €31 million last year alone. It is impossible for the disability sector to absorb such a massive cut in funding without it having a significant impact on the quantity and availability of services that we provide to those in greatest need of support within the community.

We want reassurances on our fears about the intolerable cuts in HSE funding that we believe will be introduced in 2009 and we are seeking a meaningful commitment from Ministers that people who are blind and vision impaired will be given proper protection from further cutbacks that will have a detrimental affect on their welfare and ability to live independently.