The Means Testing process needs to be more person focused with an understanding of the individual - Padraig Hannafin

June 7 2024

Padraig Hannafin is a disability activist. He is Rehab's Public Affairs and Research Administrator and Vice Chairperson Cork Centre for Independent Living. This is his address to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development, and the Islands:

I thank the Chair and the committee for inviting us today to listen to our views on Means Testing.

I come before you today with both a professional and personal experience of means testing.

I work for Rehab Group which supports more than 12,800 people with disabilities to live lives of their choosing.

On a personal level I have a spinal chord injury, paralysed from the chest down, and I have used a wheelchair since the age of 16.

If means testing is to remain in place it needs to evolve into a more accessible process for people, it needs to remove any and all cliff edges that decimate a person’s income overnight, it needs to recognise the independence of the individual rather than assessing their household income, and it needs to recognise the true cost of disability and the at risk of poverty status of so many people with disabilities.

My most recent experience of means testing came shortly after I got married in August of last year. My change of circumstances led to me being means-tested for my Disability Allowance in September. My application to retain my Disability Allowance was refused, my first appeal was refused, and only on my second appeal was my Disability Allowance finally reinstated at a reduced rate the following February.

I have no literacy issues, I don’t have a learning or intellectual disability, and my wife is a qualified special needs assistant. Yet both of us struggled to fully understand and grasp the information given to us at each stage of the whole process.

Much of the information was black and white, cold and blunt. The outcome of my application and appeal was delivered over 7 pages of complex information at each stage. While neither of us understood fully what was wrong, we knew that something wasn't right. In the end my local TD discovered the Department had assessed my wife's fortnightly wages as weekly.

Within 24 hours my Disability Allowance was reinstated at a reduced rate with a letter of apology. While I was relieved to have my Disability Allowance and travel pass back all I could think of were some of our service users. Many of the people I've met in focus groups who have literacy issues, cognitive issues, or issues with confidence would not have been able to dispute the original result on their own, or have had the confidence to challenge what is routinely a first refusal. When our Advocacy Officers help the people they work with to apply for the Disability Allowance they now tell them they will almost certainly be refused on their first application.

The information provided throughout the application process did not come with an easy read format, it did not come with support information, it did not come with any direction as to where support could be found. It did not come with a phone line where clarification could be sought on certain issues, and it did not come with information about outside services that could provide support in the application or in any subsequent appeals. My broadband provider recognises the difficulties some people with disabilities face with complex and technical information, so they provide a disability specific customer care line in recognition of this. Means Testing does not.

The Means Testing process needs to be more person focused with an understanding of the individual.

One Rehab service user, living with her parents, lost both her Travel Pass and her sole income of Disability Allowance after the household income was taken into account during means testing. This woman’s independence had been limited due to having to live at home but it was shattered after she lost her only income and her Travel Pass in one go. She had attended RehabCare service during the week but had to reduce the days she attended due to the €12 total daily cost of travel to and from the centre. Means Testing the household did not take her right to be seen as an individual trying to live an independent life into account and has negatively affected her life dramatically.

The Travel Pass and Medical Card are seen as auxiliary supports to Disability Allowance but for people with disabilities they are lifelines.

Recently 6 of our service users had not applied for a Medical Card until they met their Advocacy Officer due to being so daunted by the means testing application process. Others had not applied for appeal as they didn’t understand they could, and another told her “Dad said we’ll leave it alone we’ll be means tested”. The advocacy team’s feeling is that the system is designed to be off-putting and unapproachable.

Asks

If the means test remains in place, the following changes would address some of the problems I have outlined:

Communication should be provided in Easy to Read or Plain English.
A disability specific phone support line should be provided to guide people through applications and appeals.
Guidance should be included with all communication on where to find the information required to complete appeals.
Means-testing should only look at the individual’s income, rather than the household.
All cliff edge removals of supports should stop, and a more staggered approach should be taken with reductions of payments. People should be able to retain the travel pass and medical card.

ENDS

This address was delivered by Padraig Hannafin on On 29 May 2024 to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection about the impacts of means testing of disability payments.

The Means Testing process needs to be more person focused with an understanding of the individual - Padraig Hannafin

Padraig Hannafin is a disability activist. He is Rehab's Public Affairs and Research Administrator and Vice Chairperson Cork Centre for Independent Living. This is his address to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development, and the Islands:

I thank the Chair and the committee for inviting us today to listen to our views on Means Testing.

I come before you today with both a professional and personal experience of means testing.

I work for Rehab Group which supports more than 12,800 people with disabilities to live lives of their choosing.

On a personal level I have a spinal chord injury, paralysed from the chest down, and I have used a wheelchair since the age of 16.

I have no literacy issues, I don’t have a learning or intellectual disability, and my wife is a qualified special needs assistant. Yet both of us struggled to fully understand and grasp the information given to us at each stage of the whole process.

The Means Testing process needs to be more person focused with an understanding of the individual.

The Travel Pass and Medical Card are seen as auxiliary supports to Disability Allowance but for people with disabilities they are lifelines.

Asks

If the means test remains in place, the following changes would address some of the problems I have outlined:

Communication should be provided in Easy to Read or Plain English.

A disability specific phone support line should be provided to guide people through applications and appeals.

Guidance should be included with all communication on where to find the information required to complete appeals.

Means-testing should only look at the individual’s income, rather than the household.

All cliff edge removals of supports should stop, and a more staggered approach should be taken with reductions of payments. People should be able to retain the travel pass and medical card.