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

I am glad the Deputy raised that because I agree with him. This has nothing to do with the UK system. Cutting costs was what they were doing in the UK. That is not the case here. This is about trying to increase people's payments. In fact, based on a conservative estimate, the Green Paper measures, if introduced, would cost in excess of €130 million extra per year.

It is well documented that people with disabilities face additional costs, and Ireland's employment rate for people with disabilities is below the EU average. The question is whether we keep doing what we are doing and expect a different result or whether we actually try to improve the system for people with disabilities. The fact is that there has been no reform to disability payments for decades. We have a wide range of different schemes, including disability allowance, blind pension and invalidity pension. Even the name "invalidity pension" is not great terminology to use in this day and age.

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