‘Seriously unwell’ people in Wexford being charged €60 to have forms stamped at doctor's surgery

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

“Seriously ill” people are being charged up to €60 by their GP to have grant aid documents stamped and signed. The documents and forms relate to housing adaptations, carer’s and disability allowance, and the blue badge assigned to motorists who wish to park in disabled bays.

Raising the issue at the June meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Councillor Micheal Sheehan asked why medical professionals who are “not exactly on the breadline” are being paid for basic administrative work.

“I have been dealing with cases where people are seriously ill, they need a chairlift or a walk-in shower and apply for the works via the housing adaptation grants,” said the independent councillor. “The person is then required to go in for a doctor’s appointment which comes with a charge and, on top of that, the doctors are charging anything from €30-€60 for stamping a damn document.

“It’s repulsive to see these medical professionals, who are not exactly on the breadline, charge these vulnerable people for both the appointment and the form - which includes the carer’s allowance, disability, and the blue badge for the windscreen.”

Asking whether WCC could do anything on a local level to ease the financial burden on those applying for these grants, Cllr Sheehan said the people involved in these cases are “often seriously unwell and the last thing they need is the additional costs associated with these forms”.

However, as the schemes are run nationally, director of services Carolyne Godkin said WCC could not intervene on behalf of those impacted.

“The requirement, and these are national schemes, is to have a doctor’s stamp,” she said. “It’s not something we can just waive locally, it’s something you would have to raise on a national level. However, there are ongoing reviews of these grants.”

Frustrated by this response, Cllr Sheehan proposed that the council write to Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell to voice its concerns regarding the practise of charging people to have their forms stamped.