RBB to attend protest at Dail today against cuts to home helps and Independent living supports
People Before Profit TD says mass protest needed to halt the despicable attacks on elderly and disabled
Richard Boyd Barrett TD has confirmed he will attend today’s protest at Government buildings organised by peolpe with disabilities to protest against cuts to Independent Living supports. The protest will take place at Government Buildings at 12 noon today.
The Government have announced cuts of €750 million to HSE funding and cuts of 4.5% to Home Help hours. This means that those who don’t receive adequate support at home will be forced to stay in hospitals that are already over-crowded or in residential institutions at a much greater cost to the state.
While these cuts make no economic sense they also affect the human rights and dignity of people with disabilities.
The protest today is organised by people with disabilities along with their families, home helps and PAs.
Richard Boyd Barrett said, “These cuts to home help and home care services are absolutely despicable. Nothing can justify attacking vital supports for the elderly and the disabled- our most vulnerable citizens”.
“The Labour Party in particular should be utterly ashamed of themselves and of course there is worse to come as well as the 130 million in cuts that have led to these disgraceful measures, the government is commited to another 700 million in health cuts in the forthcoming budget. These brutal cuts simply can’t be allowed to continue. We need people power now on the streets to stop this cruel austerity.”
” I want to commend the group that organised today’s protest and and urge members of the public concerned about human dignity and common decency to come out on the steets and force this government to back off on these outrageous cuts”.
