Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister. I genuinely thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

At the outset, I will take the opportunity to set out the context for what is an extremely important issue which many people have become familiar with over recent days and weeks. The disabled persons maintenance allowance constituted a weekly allowance paid by health boards to persons who were unable to work by reason of a disability. The scheme was first introduced under the Health Act 1953 and remained under the responsibility of the Minister for Health, the health boards and the HSE for over 40 years.

Responsibility for the payment and administration of this allowance transferred to what is now the Department of Social Protection in 1996. At that point, the disabled persons maintenance allowance was discontinued and replaced by disability allowance. I should clarify that the legal concerns around the operation of this payment primarily relate to the period before the scheme transferred to the Department in 1996. Furthermore, since 1999, people entering nursing homes have retained their entitlement to disability allowance and, since the start of 2007, eligibility to the full rate of disability allowance has been extended to all people in a care setting. As such, these issues are historical and relate to arrangements that have not been in place for many years.

In response to public concerns, the Government asked the Attorney General to review the files in his office regarding charges levied for the provision of nursing home care and the non-payment of the disabled persons maintenance allowance to persons in residential care and to provide an account of the litigation management strategy adopted by the State insofar as it was based upon the legal advices provided by previous Attorneys General and the Office of the Attorney General. Yesterday, the Government noted the report from the Attorney General on these matters. The report is being laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and published. The report analyses the nature of the State's approach to civil litigation and provides an explanation of the litigation process. It considers the disabled persons maintenance allowance and the historical question of the legal authority to withhold payment of the allowance to persons in full-time residential care funded or part-funded by the State and litigation relating to non-payment of the allowance. It confirms that there was no positive legal duty to make retrospective payments.

Yesterday, the Government asked the Ministers for Health and Social Protection, Deputies Donnelly and Humphreys, to consider the report and revert to Government within three months. As the Taoiseach said earlier, the two Ministers will look at the report in the round. There are a lot of documents to consider, some of which date back to the 1970s and 1980s, and that is why it is important that adequate time is given to consider the issues at hand. Furthermore, the report by the Attorney General will be discussed in the Dáil tomorrow by Members from all sides of the House and it will also be considered by the relevant Oireachtas committee.

It is important that we do not provide mixed messages on this Government's support for people with disabilities. In budget 2023, a number of important supports were brought forward for people with disabilities, including: a cost-of-living double payment; a €500 cost-of-living disability support grant; a Christmas bonus double payment paid in December; an increase of €12 in weekly payments, with proportionate increases for qualified adults; and an increase of €20.50 in the domiciliary care allowance, which now amounts to €330 per month. These are just a few measures that build on a range of supports provided over successive budgets. I assure the House that the Government remains committed and ambitious in its support for people with disabilities.

See this speech in context