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

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the important issue of supports for disabled people. I launched the consultation process on the Green Paper last September. It is very important to say that this is all Green Paper ever was - a consultation document - and I want to be very clear about that. Based on the feedback we have received to date, it is clear to me that there are significant concerns about the proposals. I listened to these concerns and I announced last week that we will not proceed with the Green Paper proposals.

Our new Taoiseach has placed a major focus on improving supports for people with disabilities by giving a voice to special education at the Cabinet table through the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and by the establishment of a new special Cabinet committee on disability. The Government needs to have a fresh look at how we can best support people with disabilities. I believe this can be best done on a whole-of-government basis through the new Cabinet committee. There are still concerns about the cost of disability, poverty risks and low employment participation by disabled people, which further adds to marginalisation. The Government remains committed to tackling these issues through the new Cabinet committee.

I welcome the broader holistic focus the new Cabinet committee will bring to these issues across government, particularly relating to the provision of services. My Department will use the feedback and submissions we received through the Green Paper public consultation, and there was extensive public consultation, to inform the broader review of disability supports and services under this new Cabinet committee. The Government is also in the process of adopting a new national disability strategy, which will further improve service delivery across all Departments and agencies.

During my time as Minister, I have been very committed to supporting disabled people. I have increased weekly disability payments by €29 per week over the past three years. In budget 2024, I made a number of lump sum payments for disabled people, including a €400 payment in November, a Christmas bonus double payment in December, and a cost-of-living double payment in January. I have been very keen to improve employment opportunities for disabled people. I know how important the wage subsidy scheme is in this regard. My Department is conducting a review of the scheme at present but, in the meantime, I secured an additional €3.7 million to reduce the minimum required hours from 21 to 15 per week. This change came in at the beginning of April. I expect it to result in an increase in the number of people availing of this scheme over the coming months. I am also expanding the reasonable accommodation fund and the disability awareness support scheme, based on a review published by my Department in August of last year. The new scheme will combine the two grants, simplify the application process and extend the eligibility and funding for the seven supports that will be available. I look forward to launching the new reformed scheme in the coming weeks.

I have been pleased to work with Epilepsy Ireland in recent months to extend my Department's free travel scheme to any person who is medically certified as not fit to drive, for 12 months or longer, from July onwards. More than 32,000 people are expected to benefit from this measure this year. For those who sometimes think governments do not listen, we do. That major change to the free travel scheme is a direct result of engagement and collaboration with Epilepsy Ireland.

These changes build on previous measures I introduced to expand my Department's income and employment supports. Under budget 2023, I increased the earnings disregard for disability allowance and the blind pension from €140 to €165 per week. People can now earn up to €165 per week and keep their payment in full, or earn up to €505.10 per week and keep a small portion of their payment and all their secondary benefits.

The Government remains committed to complying with the UNCRPD. Ireland fully ratified this convention in 2018 and is committed to ratifying the optional protocol at the earliest possible date. In this regard, officials in the Department of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will this month convene an interdepartmental group to work through issues and enable ratification of the optional protocol. This interdepartmental group will include representation from all relevant Departments, including mine. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will subsequently report to Cabinet on the work of this group.

On assessments of need, the Government and the HSE are strongly committed to the improvement of children's disability services through the Roadmap for Service Improvement 2023-2026. Funding of €16.5 million was provided in both budget 2023 and budget 2024 to address waiting lists for clinical assessments. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, engages on a daily basis with people who have disabilities and their families. In fact, only last week, she was in County Monaghan, where she and I met a number of groups from that county, where I am from, and County Cavan to discuss this. She provided additional supports for people with disabilities, particularly in the area of respite.

I know that we need to take a serious and fresh look at how we can better support people with disabilities. Any change in income or employment supports must be looked at in the context of disabled people's access to transport, healthcare, education and career guidance. It needs to be framed in the context of a human rights-based approach and the UN convention. Going forward, my Department will work closely with other Departments across the Government to do this, both through the new national disability strategy and the newly established Cabinet committee on disability. This whole-of-government approach will allow us to best identify the issues people with disabilities face and the most appropriate ways to address them. We will also consult and collaborate with disabled persons' organisations, disability support organisations and disabled people.

We must ensure, whatever we do, that we address the poverty risks, improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities, and mitigate the cost of disability. I am confident that we can all work together on that shared objective.

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