19 April 2017
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Clonakilty based Jim Daly TD (FG)
The Government is making work pay for people with disabilities in West Cork. That’s according to Fine Gael TD Jim Daly who was speaking after the Make Work Pay Report was launched recently by the Minister for Health, Simon Harris. The Report recommends a range of measures to support people with disabilities to work.
“According to the Department of Social Protection, nearly 16,000 people in County Cork are in receipt of Disability Allowance, many of these people are afraid to do a little work, which they would like to do, as they are afraid they would lose their payment.
“This change will allow those people to earn more from employment but while continuing to qualify for a medical card and other benifits.
“People with disabilities should not have to fear losing their supports if they want to take on more employment. These changes will encourage people with disabilities here in West Cork to seek more work, safe in the knowledge that they will not lose their medical card.
“My colleague the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, has confirmed to me that work on developing a new and appropriate earnings disregard threshold will begin immediately, so I hope to see people benefit from this measure soon.
“We are also going to ensure that the current requirement of such employment to be considered as rehabilitative in nature will be removed from the medical card application process.
“It is also really important that people with disabilities have accurate and up to date information on the medical card when making decisions about entering into or retaining employment. Minister Harris is committed to implementing the recommendation in the Make Work Pay Report that requires the Department of Health to work with the Department of Socia Protection and the HSE to ensure that this information is readily available and accessible to everyone who needs it.”
