Ritchie has celebrated Global Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness Day – today Sunday 21 June 2015 – and has urged the Minister for Social Development to ensure that Disabled Housing Adaptations are fast tracked as quickly as possible to ensure that individuals with MND are able to avail of such work to their properties at an early opportunity.
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Margaret Ritchie MP has supported the Global Motor Neurone Disease Day.[/caption]
Ms Ritchie was delighted to attend a reception hosted by the Motor Neurone Disease Association on Tuesday 16 June to mark MND Awareness Week which culminated in Global Awareness Day on Midsummers Day. She said: “I met local people from Northern Ireland – some from the Down area and heard at first hand about the impact of this devastating disease.
“MND is a fatal, rapidly progressive disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It attacks the nerves that control movement so muscles refuse to work. It can leave people locked in a body which is unable to move, talk and eventually breathe. It affects people from all communities.
“As a consequence, it is vitally important that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive put in place measures which ensure that disabled house adaptations for grant aid for extensions and other structural house measures are fast tracked to ensure that those people affected by this degenerative illness can avail of the adaptations as quickly as possible.
“I have made representations to the Minister for Social Development highlighting the importance of ensuring that such disabled housing adaptations are processed to approval and implementation stage as quickly as possible”.
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