2011 Pre Budget Campaign

Issued on December 1 2010

Budget 2010 introduced a number of funding cuts that have put disabled people at greater risk of poverty, have threatened their access to services and undermined the implementation of the National Disability Strategy (NDS).

DFI, our members and most importantly, people with disabilities believe that further cuts to services and income support will cause unacceptable hardship for disabled people. We have an expectation that the concerns outlined in the DFI Pre-Budget Submission will be addressed in Budget 2011 with the knowledge that the Government has committed to protecting the NDS during the recession

The priority issues identified in the DFI Pre-Budget Submission 2011 include:

1. To ensure that no further cuts, direct or indirect, will be imposed to the income of people with disabilities and their families in this budget, especially given the on-going extra costs imposed by living with a disability
2. Maintain funding for disability specific services many of which are provided and subsidised by voluntary disability organisations on behalf of the State
3. Support voluntary disability organisations to continue to act as a portal to mainstream services for people with disabilities
4. DFI strongly encourages your organisation to do whatever it can to make contact with members of the Oireachtas through their Dáil or their constituency offices and to raise the concerns your organisation has in relation to Budget 2011 in the National and most importantly the local media. Please contact your Support Officer if you need any support with doing this.