Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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94. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his plans to reform the disability allowance payment and remove anomalies in the current means test for the payment. [50675/25]

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to ask the Minister about the commitment in the programme for Government to examine the anomalies in the means test for disability payments. Have we progressed that work?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Supporting disabled people is a key priority for me and for the Government. That is why the programme for Government contains a range of measures to support disabled people. One of these commitments was the publication of a new disability strategy. I am very pleased that we recently published the national human rights strategy for disabled people. This strategy sets out a whole-of-Government approach to disability, with its focus on ensuring the full participation of disabled people in Irish society.

Disability allowance is my Department's primary disability-related social assistance scheme. The payment is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and a habitual residency requirement. The means test takes account of the income a person or couple has in terms of cash, property other than the family home and capital. Applying a means test ensures that the recipient has an income need and that scarce resources are targeted to those with the greatest need. This approach supports an economically sustainable and socially equitable allocation of scarce resources.

Disability allowance has one of the highest capital disregards operated by my Department. A recipient can have up to €50,000 in savings and still receive the full rate of payment, compared to €20,000 for most other social welfare payments. Over the last four budgets, the Government has progressively improved payment rates and income disregards for disabled people. The weekly payment rates for disability allowance have increased by €41 per week in that time. The earnings disregard has increased by almost 38% since budget 2021, from €120 to €165. This enables those in receipt of disability allowance to earn more without having a negative impact on their payment. It means that people can earn up to €165 per week and keep their payment in full and can earn up to €517.60 per week and keep a portion of their payment.

We know that disabled people are at a much higher risk of poverty, have lower employment rates and a higher cost of living and we want to address that. The national human rights strategy has tasked my Department with dealing a strategic focus network, including people with disabilities and their advocates, on the cost of disability. The work of this network, which I have asked my officials to expedite, will inform my approach to the reform of disability payments.

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the Department is currently reviewing means testing across all of our schemes. Has that job of work progressed? When might we expect its completion? I refer in particular to the means test for the disability allowance. One issue is that a slight increase in household income can lead to a substantial decrease in the allowance paid to disabled members of society. That is one of the major anomalies the review of the means test should examine.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy said, we are examining the whole area of means testing. It is important that our supports are targeted and go to those who need them most in terms addressing people in poverty. The work is ongoing on that, in particular as regards the disability allowance.

We have been tasked within the human rights strategy on disability to look at this issue. We have set up a network to examine it. Most importantly, however, we will be engaging with people with disabilities and their advocates in this space with a view to informing me and the Government about the best way to proceed and ensure, first, that whatever changes we make will not disadvantage those on the payment currently and, second, ensure the payment is as relevant and effective as possible to those receiving it as their main income every week.

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The programme for Government also makes a commitment to introduce a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment, with a view to incrementally increasing it over the lifetime of the Government's term. Is this part of the current considerations in terms of the review of the disability payment?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely, it is. Under the national human rights strategy for disabled people, one of our jobs is to lead a strategic focus network from within the Department. The network will include people with disabilities and their advocates. I have asked the officials to expedite the establishment of that group, and one of the areas we will be looking at is the cost of disability payment. I intend to bring a proposal to the Government in the first half of 2026 concerning this payment. In the meantime, I am engaging with the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and the Department of public expenditure around continuing to give support to disabled people in budget 2026 in terms of a recognition of the substantially higher costs that they face daily and weekly.

We had an engagement earlier with Deputy Quaide around the Indecon report and the ESRI report and the work of the network will involve going through those figures and ensuring we have full understanding within the Department and the Government of the full cost of disability, not just for those who have a disability, but also for their families and their communities.