Greek Minister Domna Michailidou Defends Personal Assistant and Early Intervention for Disabled

Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Domna Michailidou addressed the parliament to defend the new law on a Personal Assistant for people with disabilities (ΑμεΑ) and the early‑childhood intervention programme. She argued the measures are permanent, citing a mother from Ioannina whose child benefited from the pilot early‑intervention scheme, and noted that families could receive up to €800 a month for such support. Michailidou also highlighted the broader package of a disability card, personal assistants and accessibility grants. At the same time, the opposition and the Pan‑Hellenic Association of OPEKA workers criticised the draft for excluding OPEKA representatives from the standing committee overseeing the programmes and warned that the funding limits are unclear after EU support ends. The minister responded that critics were attempting to block essential assistance for people with disabilities, repeating the slogan “the programmes … came to stay.”