Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is keen to support people with disabilities to engage in employment. In last year's budget, I increased the earnings disregard from €120 to €140 for both disability allowance and the blind pension. This means that the first €140 of weekly earnings is fully disregarded in a means assessment. In this year's budget, I announced that the earnings threshold, above which all means is fully assessed, is to be increased for both payments. This will be done by regulation. I am also increasing the general means disregard for disability allowance. I keep the means assessment for all social assistance schemes under constant review. In that regard, I am making significant amendments to the carer's allowance means test as part of this year's budget. I am also increasing the threshold for single-parent households in the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. In last year's budget, I removed the earnings limit on the one-parent family payment. I assure the Deputy that while I do not propose to accept this amendment, I will keep the issue of the means test under review. Where I see inconsistencies or unfairness, I will seek to rectify the matter within the resources available to me.

As the Deputy stated, we have just published the cost of disability report. There is a recommendation that there be graduated payments based on the disability. I will ask the national disability inclusion strategy steering group, which is examining the report, to consider the specific issue the Deputy raised regarding the blind pension and disability allowance. I spoke earlier at a meeting of the steering group, which is chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. It received the cost of disability report today. Indecon, the company that prepared the report, gave the group a full, in-depth explanation of where it got the data. One of the main recommendations of the report, which runs to over 200 pages, is that disability payments be graduated based on a person's disability, which is individual to different people. The means test can and should be looked at in this context. The question is whether we should have two separate payments, a blind pension and a disability allowance, or one streamlined payment based on disability. That is the question we need to ask and consider.

I will refer this specific issue to the national disability inclusion strategy steering group for consideration as part of its overall discussions. We will wait for it to come back to us with its findings on the matter. I am working closely with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on the issue.

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