'They want people with disabilities to work, but they constantly put us in poverty,' says Dublin woman calling for more support in Budget

"A wheelchair user with cerebral palsy has appealed for more support in the Budget as she told how she had lost both her disability and mobility allowances because she is a full-time worker. Saoirse Smith (34), from Clontarf in Dublin, works as an administrative assistant in the public sector but could also lose her medical card in the next year when she gets married as she will then be means-assessed as part of a couple."

"A wheelchair user with cerebral palsy has appealed for more support in the Budget as she told how she had lost both her disability and mobility allowances because she is a full-time worker. Saoirse Smith (34), from Clontarf in Dublin, works as an administrative assistant in the public sector but could also lose her medical card in the next year when she gets married as she will then be means-assessed as part of a couple."

Saoirse Smith, 34, from Clontarf, Dublin, uses a wheelchair and has cerebral palsy. She works full-time as an administrative assistant in the public sector. She lost both her disability and mobility allowances because she is a full-time worker. She may lose her medical card within the next year when she gets married, because she will then be means-assessed as part of a couple. She has appealed for increased support in the Budget to address gaps that leave working disabled people without essential financial supports. The situation highlights interactions between employment, benefits eligibility, and household means-testing.

Read at Independent