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After the presentation, 91 members of the Seimas voted for them, no one objected, 25 parliamentarians abstained. The preliminary draft will await the Government’s conclusions and will be on the Seimas’ agenda again in the autumn session.
“Currently, there are still about three thousand people with disabilities in Lithuania who do not receive any benefits. It is likely that they are people with mental or mental disabilities, that is, those who already have more challenges and difficulties to integrate than people with the same level of work ability, but with a different type of disability “, says a member of the Seimas.” L. Kukuraitis.
According to him, the current situation is that people who have lost the ability to work after the age of 24 and do not have the required duration of social security cannot receive pensions for incapacity for work or social assistance pensions.
“These people are the only group of people with disabilities who remain outside the social security system, but they are not the only ones facing the situations of injustice that we are trying to address with these changes,” said L. Kukuraitis.
Another relevant problem is the loss of entitlement to social assistance benefits as soon as you start working and receive a salary. Under the current regime, people with disabilities who lose the ability to work after reaching the age of 24 lose their social assistance benefits as of the month after they are hired, even though their income is lower than the benefit itself, which currently amounts to 143 €.
“There is a paradoxical situation where a person is being punished for what the state should really promote in every way,” said another member of the law amendment initiative group, Tom Tomilin, commenting on the current situation. .
“Such a system does not encourage people to work if the salary is the minimum wage or less. At the same time, working part-time or part-time is not worth it, although it could be the most acceptable for health problems,” he says T. Tomilinas, member of the Seimas.
Although the salaries received by all other groups of people with disabilities are in no way linked to the right to disability pensions or social assistance, people who lose their ability to work after reaching the age of 24 are, according to the project, discriminated against. three ways: situation and get a job, they lose even the right to this minimum benefit.
The objective is to modify this procedure by guaranteeing that a person can receive a salary equivalent to two minimum wages and, at the same time, retain the right to a social assistance pension. Seimas members of the LVŽS faction proposing amendments hope that the amendments will encourage people with disabilities to enter the labor market and, at the same time, improve their integration into society.
“Our goal is to broaden the circle of beneficiaries, increase minimum benefits and meet their payments in such a way that they help people who have lost the ability to work to the fullest, while encouraging them to work and earn a decent living.” . Kukuraitis said.
According to him, it is very important to take care of the integration of vulnerable members of society and social justice, when all have equal access to state support.
The initiators of the amendments to the law estimate that it would cost the state budget an additional $ 4 million. by year. “In the context of the state budget, this is not a large amount, but the change would be very significant,” Tomilin said.
“Not only that, in the long run, these investments would really pay off, because workers pay taxes, buy goods, use services and accumulate experience in social security. And this is only an economic return, certainly no less important is the social aspect, which ensures the involvement of people with greater disabilities in society, the opportunity to live with dignity, to be fulfilled “, said the deputy of Seimas.
According to the Seimas members who propose amendments, the organizations that unite and represent the disabled also expressed their support for this initiative.
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