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THE MOTHER OF Ronan Woodhouse, a young boy with Down syndrome whose medical card was removed, met with Micheál Martin and Billy Kelleher yesterday.
Noreen Keane and Ronan have been campaigning for his medical card to be reinstated due to the fact he has 13 associated conditions, including a cardiac condition and acute asthma.
It costs Keane around €2,500 a month to care for her son’s various medical needs. While the medical card would not eliminate all of this, it would help to take some financial pressure off the family.
Bill
Keane welcomed the news of a bill from Independent TD Finian McGrath, which would give all children with Down syndrome an automatic entitlement to resource teaching hours.
The bill is to come before the Dáil tomorrow.
She said that McGrath’s bill, if it passes, “will have a huge impact on Ronan”.
While Ronan does receive resource hours in school, they are allocated from the general allocation model and so fall short on the recommended four hours 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, a Fianna Fáil Private Members Bill would give children with Down syndrome, multiple illnesses or chronic conditions the right to a medical card.
Keane had a private meeting with Fianna Fáil leader Martin and his colleague Kelleher on the issue. yesterday.
Education
Keane described the situation as “absolutely exhausting”. She said it:
makes me question why is it that we as parents, as advocates for our children, have to fight for everything which our children would probably have automatically if they didn’t have Down syndrome. It’s really frustrating.
She said that children with Down syndrome who have “massive potential educationally” aren’t getting the resource hours they need.
Ronan had a medical card from birth, but following the recent probity review, it was removed. Keane is in the process of appealing for the second time against this decision.
“I’ve had umpteen meetings with the top executives from the HSE, to no avail really,” she said. “They are trying to fob me off with the long-term illness book which he would be entitled to anyway.”
Right now I have nothing. I’m refusing to accept the long-term illness book in protest on some level because what he requires is his medical card and I won’t accept anything less.
She said that the coalition government “is coming across as very anti-disability and targeting the most vulnerable in our society”.
“As parents of children with disabilities we are picking up the slack in terms of paying for services which should be available to our children,” said Keane.
“I’m going to fight on – I’m certainly not giving up.”
According to Keane, who is chair of Down Syndrome Limerick, 80 per cent of the children connected to the group who were due to have their medical cards reviewed subsequently lost their cards.
“I feel the complexity of their medical conditions, their associated medical conditions along with Down syndrome, is not being recognised,” she said.
Ronan is due to get orthotics soon, at a cost of €300 a pair. On top of this, he has been diagnosed with bilateral hearing loss.
“If he requires hearing aids, who is going to pay for that?” asked his mother. “I’m at the moment paying for weekly speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. Without that, my child would not be where he is right now.”
Keane is still waiting for a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Back in November of last year, Kenny claimed that nobody had told him about Ronan Woodhouse’s case – despite being told about it at the Fine Gael national conference a month before.
“I really don’t believe that the government are taking into account just how difficult it is to have a child with a disability and the one thing that we did have was a medical card,” said Keane.
“I really think this cost-cutting is going to cost a lot more for the State in the long run.”
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Give that young man back his medical card
If you need to find money take a few bus passes of the addicts
Exactly!
Never mind the bus passes, the “disability” payment should be the first thing taken from the addicts and layabouts that say they suffer from “depression”!
Just because someone is an addict or a layabout does not mean they do not suffer from depression.
that one is a double edged sword,,,,but there are are many addicts and layabouts who are immorally claiming benefits, while others work to be taxed to the hilts to fund their layabout dispositions !!
Sean it’s a person fault if they are an addict or a lay about. Shouldn’t be funding their habits with a free bus pass.
Why would resources be given to those who really need it and would benefit greatly, when the golden circles demand top-ups and the life of (Dr) Reilly?
That’s the current government for you all right taking from those with the least. Seems everyone has to share….
@blacksod , this country is far from being broke
Its only broke when it comes to helping te less well off in the country , such as this young lad, but when it comes to the gov cronies and gangsters , their plenty of money available see , sal top ups , nama salaries, quango salaries , political advisory salaries , expenses etc etc etc 32m for a library in dun loaghaire , 100m plus for irishpisswater , need i go on.
Well coming a gov that has repeatly shown to be ,
Anti old ,
Anti sick,
Anti disabled,
Anti youth,
Anti low-middle class
This comes as no surprise , and before enda releases the red thumb brigade, i’d like u to answer this question.
DO U THINK ITS DISGRACEFUL , THAT THIS YOUNG LAD CANNOT GET MEDICAL CARD , red thumb and i’ll take that as a Fg couldn’t care less.
Fine Gael operated the same way the previous time they were in Government as well
Unfortunately every time FG get in they have to clear up total mess left by FF. Always happens.
Sean,
You are so wrong before a person or body can be anti they have to be aware and have some thoughts on the matter.
This crowd (government) don’t care or think about any of those things you accuse them of being anti to.
If they did maybe things could be changed, at least they would talk to those affected by their actions or lack of.
This govt have one agenda – protect & bolster the positions of the connected at the expense of everyone bar themselves & their friends. The people voted for them in good faith – make sure you vote them out at the next opportunity for strokes such as this & generally for lying on pretty much everything.
My son only got his first medical card when he was 9 years old when we qualified on Income. Despite having Down syndrome being deaf and having a whole host of other serious medical conditions. We did have a long term illness card only and this did cover his meds and orthotics and such. It was the case eventually that I moved to part time hours as it meant he got the medical card and I actually had more disposable income as a result even though I only had part time hours. If I was able to go back to work my first priority would be covering my sons medical costs and based on the last two years I would have to ear mark the first 30k plus if my income for that without a medical card. That means I can’t go back to work if my sons health ever allowed me to as I just couldn’t afford it.
Shameful to see this happen to the most neediest. How about taking those passes away from the tac heads?!
Exactly
Same old story,,,,the special needs, Elderly and Infirm and the carers of same are a burden on Fine Gaels interpretation of the Ideal economy
Nice to see Billy and Martin jumping on bandwagon. It’s because of their governments action/ inaction country is now broke .
The fault of all politicians in fairness Blackson63. Seem to remember Enda and his mates shouting spend more every budget never held past governments to account in his whole career so don’t expect anything better from him as he is the same as FF.
FG took this lad’s medical card off him , so how in godsname can you sit there and just blame someone else ,
Thats complete cowardice, shameful and downright disgraceful .
So she met with Martin and Kelleher to discuss the medical card, they are the reason you list the medical card
Sorry to say but as you or your son are not a bank. This government doesn’t give a dam. They have sold us all into slavery and as so human dignity no longer exists
About time we had a story that concerns people that require the most help from the state … The journal seemed to be on a personal crusade over the last few weeks over what happened with R O’Neill
If you are a junkie or an alcoholic in this country you receive Disability and a medical card. If you are Disabled in this country you get thrown on the scrap heap.
SHAME ON FINE GAEL AND LABOUR.
Fine Gael = Profit before People!
there are a lot more cases like this across the entire country, this government is more concerned with its image and how it is seen by those in the European parliament than it is about its own citizens.
the ‘big 3′ (f/f f/g and lab) major political parties in this country are all as corrupt and uncaring as each other , their only interest is to line their own pockets and those of their cohorts, everyone else is either expendable or an inconvenience, how they have managed time and again to get into power is beyond comprehension.
This makes me sick. The government is treating disabled people as second class citizens, thry dont matter even though the constitution says we shoudl treat every one as equal. Remember this when you next vote for these chancers. Kenny is quite happy to dish out millions to faceless bondholders but turns his back on his own vulnerable people, is this the sort of person you want as our leader?
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