Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the figures the Minister outlined and the reference to the growing caseload and broader demographic change. While expenditure is rising, so too are the challenges faced by those depending on supports. Is the Department examining any reforms, either administrative or structural, that would protect recipients while ensuring that schemes remain sustainable? If we are moving towards a cost-of-disability payment ,it is important we focus our resources on people and on the actual costs of disability. Not every disability or every person claiming a disability or invalidity payment are the same. The concern lies with the experience in the UK where there has been an exponential rise in claims, especially from young people aged between 16 and 24, in the areas of social phobia, anxiety and mood disorders. Sometimes we have to consider this in the round in terms of access to services and getting people back to work, particularly young people.

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