Dr. Claire Keane:

One of my favourite topics is administrative data. In Ireland we are not so great at using administrative data and, as researchers, we often must rely on surveys that may not, for example, contain a very large number of people with a disability. That sort of restricts the analysis we can do. In Scandinavian countries, for example, there is much more usage of administrative data. It is important Departments do not operate in silos. In the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, we have shown how we really have been able to use administrative data and information quite quickly and pull it together. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, is doing a good job of bringing administrative data into surveys as well.

On the specific question of disability, we also need to think about the wider questions. For example, we know employment rates of people with disabilities in Ireland are much lower than other OECD countries. The OECD in a recent report pointed to issues such as a lack of engagement with employers and helping people with disabilities into employment. That is one point.

Another matter that can often create a disincentive for people with disabilities to work is their potential need for flexibility. They may not have the physical capacity to work full-time and we hope remote working will help there. There is also the question of retaining secondary benefits, for example, such as medical cards. Somebody with a disability may really value having a medical card because it covers so much of the cost of the disability. It might be important not only to have medical cards that are means-tested but to also recognise people's health status. For example, people with certain conditions might be able to retain cards so the issue does not act as a disincentive to work. Looking at the medical card scheme would be important as well as looking at the sort of headline disability payment amounts.