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

To be fair, we have done a good deal of work in supporting people with disabilities. The cost of living double payment was paid to people getting disability allowance, invalidity pension, blind pension, disablement benefit and partial capacity benefit. There was a €500 cost-of-living lump sum. The disability support grant was paid to people in receipt of a long-term disability allowance, invalidity pension and blind pension. There was a €200 cost-of-living lump-sum payment for people getting a disability payment and who received a living alone increase. There was a €400 cost-of-living lump sum fuel allowance payment and a Christmas bonus double payment next week to all persons getting a long-term disability payment. The domiciliary care allowance will increase by €20.50 to €330 per month from January 2023. That is the first increase since 2009. From January 2023, there will be an increase of €12 in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability payments. There will be proportionate increases for qualified adults for people getting a reduced rate. The domiciliary care allowance will be available in respect of children with severe illness or disability who remain in hospital for up to six weeks after birth. I spoke to Anna Gunning from Children in Hospital today. She welcomed those changes. Last year, I changed the domiciliary care allowance up to six months. The disablement benefit will be disregarded in the means assessment for fuel allowance from January 2023. There is a €1 million expansion of the reasonable accommodation fund to support people with disabilities in the workplace. That is something I want to focus on. I want to help people with a disability who can work to break down the barriers, whether it is for them or employers, to see how we can get more people back to work in a tight labour market. They have a huge contribution to make. I am keen to focus on that as well. I have increased the earnings disregard for disability allowance and blind pension for people who go back to work from €140 to €165 from the beginning of January 2023. The means assessment threshold for fuel allowance increases from €100 to €200 over the basic contributory pension rate. That means that more people on disability will qualify.

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