Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and acknowledge that the report requires a whole-of-government perspective and support. I also acknowledge that it has been referred to the national disability inclusion steering group for further work.

The report confirms what was widely suspected but perhaps not acknowledged, which is that the cost of disability is quite significant. The cost of disability amounts to the extra spending that a person with a disability must face in daily life that able-bodied people do not have to face. It is the same for a family with a member with a disability. This report puts the average additional cost of disability to a person with a severe disability at between €9,600 and €12,300. For a person with a less severe disability, the cost is between €8,700 and €10,000. These are averages so clearly there are some people and families spending a lot more than that. The cost depends on the severity of the disability and where the person resides. There are also unmet costs for many as they are currently unaffordable. Looking at some aspects of the report, it indicates this country spends the fourth-least of its social protection budget on disabilities in a comparison with 31 other European countries.

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