Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

What we have already done and what we are going to do over the course of Government is turn those one-off payments into permanent supports in a way that people can plan on a year-to-year basis. This year, as I have said, as a result of the weekly increase in the rate of payment relating to the domiciliary care allowance and the fuel allowance and other changes, there will be an extra €250 million going into permanent supports that will not have to be reviewed every year. That will continue in the next series of budgets. That is why I have started the work on what a permanent cost-of-disability payment will look like. I want it to be annual and incremental, but I am not going to impose a model without consulting with the various disability groups. I look forward to consulting with the Oireachtas committees on social protection and disability matters as to what that might look like, who should qualify for it and how it should be paid. That is a commitment we have under the national human rights strategy for disabled people, which was published on 3 December last.

I have begun the work already in relation to the strategic focus network. In December, we will begin the work to engage on what the payment will look like. We are very focused on introducing that payment. It will be a key priority as we come into the next budget sequence.

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