Durkan sees red on blind allowance
Foyle MP Mark Durkan MLA has joined blind and partially sighted people from Derry at Westminster in voicing their anger at being unfairly excluded from a vital mobility benefit.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) protest highlighted the government’s failure to deliver a change to mobility benefit rules that exclude blind people from claiming the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) higher rate mobility component that wheelchair users can receive.
Mr Durkan said he has been lobbying the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell on behalf of blind and partially sighted people in the Foyle area.
“People here are rightly angered over their unfair exclusion from a vital mobility benefit. The higher rate for this DLA mobility allowance is focused on those who are unable to walk or who cannot walk to their intended destination outdoors without assistance. People with serious sight loss face great difficulties moving around independently in the external environment.
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Weather for Derry
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
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