Incontinence wear allowance
Deputy Fitzmaurice asked why the promised €75 annual allowance for incontinence wear had never been implemented. The Minister said the difficulty lay in devising an administrable scheme that would not breach data protection law.
Four years ago there was an announcement in the budget that people who had to use incontinence wear would be given €75 to help them each year with the new pay-by-weight system. There have been four budgets since then and it has not come into effect. Why is that?
Comment on this
The difficulty has been in devising a scheme that could be administered effectively and which would not breach data protection law. It has proved very difficult. We continue to work to find solutions. We have met various bodies but it has proved very difficult to come up with a scheme that could be administered.