Dáil debates
Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Disability Services
9:05 pm
Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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36. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps being taken to address the additional costs associated with disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16971/23]
Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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What steps will be taken to address the additional cost of living for people with disabilities? Could the Minister of State let us know what is happening in that regard? People are very anxious to know. This is not about the cost of living as a result of inflation and the war in Ukraine. This is about the cost of living with a disability, as set out in the Indecon report.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Cost of Disability in Ireland report was commissioned by the Minister for Social Protection and prepared by Indecon International Research Economists. It was published in December 2021. It provides important evidence of the additional costs that people with a disability face. The report has implications for many areas of public policy. A whole-of-government approach is required to develop appropriate responses and to ensure that everyday costs are reduced for people with disabilities and their families.
The report was considered by the steering group of the national disability inclusion strategy, NDIS, within 24 hours of its publication in late 2021, and onwards to the conclusion of that strategy in December 2022, in the context of monitoring actions under the NDIS. The NDIS has now ended and work is ongoing in my Department to co-ordinate the development of a successor to the national disability strategy. It is important to me that this strategy includes meaningful action to reduce day-to-day costs for people with disabilities in Ireland. The Cost of Disability in Ireland report will be an important contribution to the evidence base from which actions and commitments in the new strategy are developed across government throughout 2023.
With regard to actions being taken by the Government in the immediate future, this year the Department of Social Protection introduced a suite of measures as part of budget 2023 to mitigate the impacts of the rising cost of living for all people in Ireland, which will have assisted persons with disabilities also. In addition to those general measures, the following specific measures were advanced to address disability-specific costs: a €12 increase was applied to the maximum rate of weekly disability payments; the disablement benefit was disregarded in the means assessment for fuel allowance; the reasonable accommodation fund was increased by €1 million; the earnings disregard for disability allowance and the blind pension increased from €140 to €165; and the means assessment threshold for fuel allowance increased from €120 to €200.
Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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It is very important to note that all of those measures were as a result of the increases in the cost of living and inflation. They were nothing to do with the cost of disability, which is a separate issue. It is important that we separate both those things. We should not conflate this by saying we gave money because that money was given as a result of the increased cost of living due to supply chain issues and whatever else. It was nothing to do with the additional cost of living with a disability of over €9,200, as set out in the Indecon report. I am not necessarily looking to hear about the budget line for line but will the budget this year introduce some sort of special payment for people with disabilities and kick-start the process by which they would get additional funding to meet the cost of their disability?
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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While I would love to give the Deputy a kite-flying answer, I cannot do that here tonight.
Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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There are enough of ye at it.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I am not adding to it; I can tell the Deputy that much for nothing. However, I will say one thing. The most cost-effective way of supporting people with disabilities is to work with them to get people back into the workforce. That is one of the most important ways we can do it. One of the things the Minister did when dealing with the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022 recently was to increase the commitment around the percentage of disabled people in the workforce from 3% to 6%. We are the second worst in Europe for persons with a disability participating in the workforce. There is ongoing engagement with IBEC to reduce the number of hours a person must participate in the workforce. Currently, it has to be 19.5 hours. Employers are telling us that if we could reduce it to 14 or 15 hours, more people with disabilities could be supported in the workforce.
Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I agree wholeheartedly with that and I commend the Department on what is happening there but I will say one thing. When a person who is getting disability allowance gets married or partners with somebody who is working, their disability allowance is reduced to about €40 on the basis that their household income has now changed. That flies in the face of everything we are trying to achieve. There is also a lack of transport supports for people who want to go to work. The primary medical certificate is a disaster. We keep talking about these things. The Department of Finance is involved in one part of it and the Department of Social Protection is involved in something else. At the end of the day, we need to make sure every policy that is put in place is disability-proofed. We need to do that but we need not do the paperwork. We need to see the action on the ground first.
9:15 pm
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy spoke, he crossed a number of Departments. I am delighted to share with him that the Minister met with the Minister for Social Protection just before Christmas and is due to meet her again in the coming weeks. I chaired the transport group relating to disability. I hope to see some positive moves with regard to that. I am a firm believer in the mobility allowance, which was removed in 2013. Something needs to be done there. There are great findings on it. I agree with the Deputy regarding the primary medical certificate. As the courts and the PTAs have told us, the criteria for the certificate is far too narrow. We must look at all those elements. There is a Department of Social Protection response and a Department of Transport response so it is a whole-of-government response to the cost of disability.