Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)

I thank the Deputies for their contributions to the debate. I am happy to take the closing statement on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Calleary.

The Government is well aware of the additional costs faced by disabled people. I re-echo the Minister’s statement when he said he was committed within the lifetime of this Government to addressing the cost of disability in both a comprehensive and a permanent way.

Improving the position of disabled people and ensuring their full participation in society is a priority for this Government. That is why the programme for Government includes a range of commitments in this area that we will advance over the lifetime of this Government.

In his opening remarks the Minister spoke about our commitment to introducing an annual cost of disability support payment. This is incredibly important but it is just one piece of the jigsaw. Both the programme for Government and the human rights strategy for disabled people include a whole range of commitments for disabled people. We have also committed to reforming the disability allowance payment and removing anomalies in the current means test for support.

In fact, as Members will be aware, the Department of Social Protection is conducting a review of means-testing generally across its schemes. Any reforms will be guided by the outcome of this review.

The Government is committed to progressively increasing weekly disability payments. We have been doing this, including in the recent budget where we increased the personal rates, increases for qualified adults and the child support payments.

Furthermore, on a practical note, many individuals have different individual stories when it comes to their circumstances and experiences with disabilities. For example, it is important that medical assessments, when we carry them out on people who have lifelong conditions, do not happen repeatedly. The Department of Social Protection is examining the ability-to-work criteria for certain payments so that people are not subjected to the same requirements, as I said, time and time again.

In regard to employment supports, the issues facing disabled people cut across government. That is why the national human rights strategy for disabled people is a key focus. It adopts a whole-of-government approach with individual Departments and State agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit across five pillars, including employment. Speaking of a whole-of-government approach, an extra €3 million is available in the budget of my Department this year for students with disabilities.

The Department of Social Protection is the joint lead on the employment pillar together with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. In truth, many disabled people face barriers in the workplace and when looking for employment. Government wants to address those barriers and ensure there are intensive and appropriate activation measures and crucially, employment supports in place to help those most distant from the labour market into work.

The Department of Social Protection, through its nationwide network of Intreo centres, provides employment services for jobseekers, including disabled people. In particular, EmployAbility offers specialist employment services to people with disabilities. They can help people find work through their job-matching service and offer ongoing in-work support to employees and employers. There is now a designated disability employment personal adviser in each of the 62 Intreo offices. In July 2022, the Department launched Early Engagement, a scheme which proactively works with disabled people and helps them achieve their goals through the Department's employment and training supports. Of course, taking part is completely voluntary. In December 2023, a new employment programme under the European Social Fund was announced. The WorkAbility: Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme aims to support up to 13,000 disabled people progress their training and employment ambitions through 57 local, regional and national organisations. The programme runs from January 2024 to December 2028. The Department of Social Protection also provides funding for AHEAD's GetAHEAD and Willing Able Mentoring programmes. I apologise for all of these titles but that is what they are called. The whole idea is to help people with disabilities transition from education to work. Having spoken to many people with disabilities, I know that is an absolutely crucial issue for them. The Government is also committed to expanding and building on these successful programmes.

The wage subsidy scheme was mentioned earlier. We have committed to reviewing that scheme. The recent budget has already provided for an expansion of the scheme and an increase in the payment rates.

Secondary benefits are of crucial importance as well. Fear of losing secondary benefits can be a very significant concern for people when they are considering taking up or increasing their employment. That is why it was really important that budget 2026 introduced measures whereby recipients of disability allowance or blind pension will be able to retain their fuel allowance payment for up to five years after moving into employment. There are arrangements in place for the retention of certain secondary benefits when a person moves off a disability payment, such as disability allowance or invalidity pension, into employment where they can keep their eligibility for free travel for up to five years. In addition, a person who has been in receipt of certain social welfare payments, such as disability allowance, for 12 consecutive months may retain their medical card for three years on moving into employment. Those are transition measures that are constantly called for and that people with disabilities ask for that make that transition more reasonable and bearable for those people.

In relation to the work that we are doing on the cost of disability, it is important to remember we are not starting from a blank slate. We are building on supports already available and the improvements that have been made, especially in recent years.

I thank the Deputies for bringing forward the motion, which the Government is not opposing. We are committed to introducing an annual cost of disability support payment. We will do that over the lifetime of this Government. As the Minister stated in his opening remarks, the aim is to bring forward proposals in the first half of next year so that they will be available for consideration in the budget 2027 process.

All of us in this House recognise the concerns raised by the people who live with the daily reality of disability. We all want to further enhance the supports available to them and empower them to live full and independent lives and to be able to access employment. I reiterate the transition payments that are there for them. We have done a lot to improve supports for disabled people but we all recognise that a lot more needs to be done.

See this speech in context