TD Smith calls on Government to prioritise disability services in Budget

Labour spokesperson for Health and Disability, Duncan Smith has today called on the Government to prioritise people with disabilities in Budget 2023.

Deputy Smith said that services for people with disabilities are currently under developed and underfunded.

“We want to see concrete measures in this Budget that clearly set out how the government is going to tackle the scourge people have accessing disability services,” he says.

“The Government needs to publish the long overdue Disability Action Plan Framework in advance of the Budget.

“Service users and workers in the sector are crying out for help now.

“This is unacceptable. We are in the midst of a nationwide crisis.

“Every town, village and county have a massive unmet need for people with disabilities and with each passing year of inaction people are asking themselves why they are always the ones to be forgotten.

“The reality is that the longer the Disability Action Plan Framework is put on the long finger the worse the crisis in the disability sector is going to be.

“The demand on services will become even more intense, more expensive for the state to run and more people will live without much needed services,” he says.