Disability federation disputes Martin view of Budget

The elderly and people with intellectual disabilities will be among the main beneficiaries of the Budget's health measures, the Minister for Health and Children said yesterday.

However, Mr Martin's assertion about the merits of the Budget was hotly disputed by the Disability Federation of Ireland.

The Minister highlighted the extra £83 million to be devoted to services for intellectual disability and autism next year, and the £71.6 million to services for older people, including the extension of medical cards to everyone over 70.

He added that the overall Budget package - "three times the figure approved for the year 2000" - would push total health spending beyond the £5 billion mark in 2001.

Detailing the measures yesterday, Mr Martin rejected Fine Gael criticisms that he was simply "throwing money" at the health service instead of addressing specific problems.

"That's a very superficial analysis," he said. "We're spending money in a very focused way. But the fact is the health services require additional funding as well as reform. We need modernisation of hospital services across the board, for example. If Fine Gael call that throwing money at the health services, that's their problem."

The Disability Federation of Ireland joined the criticism of the Budget, however, claiming the Minister for Finance had engaged in only "cosmetic tinkering" with measures for the disabled rather than the "radical change" promised in the Programme for Government.

"The pundits are unanimous that this was an election Budget, but people with disabilities are obviously not even recognised as potential voters by this Government," said DFI chief executive Mr John Dolan.

"He gave the disabled an extra £8 a week - the minimum amount that everybody in the country received. Nothing has changed. When the dust has settled, 70 per cent of households with disability will still be living below the poverty line."

Other measures highlighted by Mr Martin were the extra £26 million for acute hospital service developments, and £14.4 million for the "cardiovascular strategy - building healthier hearts" initiative. He also pointed to the additional £5 million devoted to reducing cardiac surgery waiting lists.

The Minister of State with responsibility for children, Ms Mary Hanafin, praised what she called "the first children's Budget in the history of the State" and particularly welcomed the big increases in foster care payments. "To date, foster parents had their basic allowance and they had to go cap in hand to the health boards for discretionary payments. Those days are over," she said.

The measures would also help achieve the key aim of the National Children's Strategy to eliminate child poverty.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael has criticised Mr Martin for a situation in which it said 2,523 people were "at risk of going blind" while waiting for cataract operations.