Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)

How much the Taoiseach ignored disability in his reply is representative of how much it has been ignored in the budget. The Disability Federation of Ireland said it too; the Taoiseach does not have to take my word for it. It described the budget as a betrayal of disabled people, stripping away vital supports and deepening poverty. I recognise there was increased funding in the budget for disability, but the Minister of State with responsibility for disability herself said that the Department was coming from a low funding base. That is the understatement of the year.

Services for disability have been starved for far too long now, so bringing it up ever so slightly will not make a dent. The Taoiseach knows that, I know that and disabled people all over the country know that. Yet, the Taoiseach is trying to defend it and make excuses. His excuses will not pay for the added costs that people who have a disability face in Ireland every day. We have the lowest employment rates for people with a disability in the EU and threadbare services. We still have not seen the reintroduction of the motorised transport grant that was scrapped nearly two decades ago.

I will ask the Taoiseach again. Will the Government reconsider introducing a cost of disability payment to recognise the cost of having a disability in this country?

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