Ms Catherine Naughton:

I would like to come back in on the very important issue of the extra disability-related costs. This is something that is really influencing poverty and social exclusion among persons with disabilities right across Europe. For example, in our human rights report on poverty and social exclusion we saw in some countries the annual additional costs come up to something like €23,000 a year in higher-income countries in Europe. Research in Ireland shows also that it can be up to 23% of a family's budget. The extra costs include transport, housing, assistance, things which should be covered by social protection and other measures which families are taking on themselves. The idea of totally separating disability-related support and income or employment-related support is really important to ensure that when somebody can go into work, they still receive the support they need for the extra disability-related costs, which are substantial.

They are covered well in our human rights report to the extent that we could and I can give the committee more details on that later from the countries where we had the research.