Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the visitors in the Gallery. The Government committed, as part of the Roadmap for Social Inclusion, to develop and consult on proposals to restructure long-term disability payments and simplify the system. The consultation process has been ongoing since the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, launched the Green Paper on disability reform in September. I emphasise that the Green Paper is a consultation document, not a final reform design. It sets out one possible approach for the purpose of inviting discussion, informing debate and prompting suggestions. I am very mindful of our commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to consult closely with, and actively involve, disabled people and their representative groups in changes to policies and services that will have an impact on them.

The aim of the Green Paper is twofold. First, it seeks to better insulate from poverty disabled people who cannot work by providing for higher rates of payment. Second, it seeks to support and encourage a higher level of employment for people with disabilities by tailoring the provision of employment supports to suit a person's capabilities. The Green Paper aims to achieve this through its main proposal of a three-tiered personal support payment, rather than the one-size-fits-all payment currently in place. I am aware that concerns have been expressed about the possible impact of the proposed approach on a person's entitlement to a disability payment or the level of that payment. I want to make it clear that nobody will lose their entitlement to a disability payment arising from the Green Paper proposals and nobody will see that payment level reduced. In addition, engagement with public employment services will be on a voluntary basis.

I assure the Deputy that all feedback on the Green Paper proposals will be considered in any future reforms of the system. That is the purpose of the consultation process. My officials have held a stakeholder event and four public consultation events over the past two months. We want to hear from as many disabled people and their representatives as possible. Accordingly, we have extended the closing date for the consultation until 15 March 2024. This was in response to a number of requests for an extension to allow individuals, disabled persons' organisations and disability groups time to compose their submission. We are open to all ideas and suggestions. I encourage everybody with an interest in improving the lives of people with disabilities to engage in the consultation process.

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