Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that there have been four major reviews and reports on the cost of disability, i.e., the additional costs to which disabilities give rise for individuals and their families, beginning with The Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities in 1996, the Indecon Report entitled "The Cost of Disability in Ireland" in 2021, the Government's failed Green Paper on the Cost of Disability in 2023, and the recent joint research project by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) "Adjusting Estimates of Poverty for the Cost of Disability" in 2025;

further notes that the Government launched yet another consultation on the matter in February of this year;

recognises that households in which a member has a disability undergo significant additional costs, compared to households in which no member has a disability, with the ESRI/IHREC estimating a weekly cost of €488 - €555 on average;

affirms that no one in the State should be worse off socially, politically, or economically, because of their disability;

condemns the choice made by the Government in Budget 2026 to withdraw emergency supports from workers and families, including, in particular, the €1,400 worth of cost-of-living supports withdrawn from disabled people this year;

recognises that workers and families, including and especially those with disabilities, cannot wait until next year and Budget 2027 for supports, and that on the basis of their Budget 2026 experience they cannot trust the Government to deliver what is needed; and

calls on the Government to: — immediately introduce an Emergency Budget with supports for workers and families, including a €500 lump sum for people with disabilities; and

— introduce, no later than Budget 2027, a new permanent cost of disability scheme, involving weekly payments for people with disabilities, whether they are in employment or not in employment, that recognises the additional costs to which their disabilities give rise.

I will be sharing my time.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Just to be aware, there is an amendment proposed.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I have seen that. I will get to that in a moment. The Minister should withdraw his shameful amendment, if for no other reason than because it is an insult to people with disabilities. Their voices are ignored and are entirely absent from the amendment. I have said it before and will say it again, people with disabilities are not disabled by their own bodies or their intellectual capacity. Rather, they are disabled by a society that is ablest and a society and Government that talks down to them. They are disabled by infrastructure that is hostile to their mobility. They are disabled by Government policy failing them time and time again. They are disabled because they are not listened to and the lived reality of their lives and needs is not responded to.

The amendment references consultation. I want to give the Minister a bit of feedback from a person who was at his most recent summit. Gillian Sherratt, who the Minister will know, had a son Harvey who, for his short life, was one of the many children with scoliosis utterly failed by the State. She wrote that at the Minister's summit the journalists got a chance to ask questions of the Ministers but people with disabilities, disabled persons' organisation representatives, carers and advocates did not get the same opportunity. That is not fair. It is not on. Government has deployed all of its delay and deflect tactics and that is why we had to bring forward this motion.

This motion calls for immediate intervention because the crisis is now. The motion takes into account the lived reality of people with disabilities and the real need for a cost of living emergency payment. The motion is about listening to people. The Minister's tone deaf amendment makes no reference to the fact that the budget left people with disabilities €1,400 worse off. He should acknowledge and face up to this and respond to the urgent pleas of disabled people who are making stark choices, whether the Minister chooses to acknowledge that. They have to use their immersions and electricity and charge their vital mobility devices. Some people need to maintain a constant temperature in the house, but cannot afford to do so.

A constituent of mine in Balrothery spoke about the statement from the Taoiseach that an emergency payment is not fiscally sustainable and that people with disabilities must wait for a permanent cost of disability payment in budget 2027. She said she is writing to tell the Minister that asking disabled people to wait is what is truly unsustainable.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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There are two very straightforward asks in the motion. They are asks that deal with the reality that disabled people the length and breadth of our State are living. It is a reality that was shared with us by them when they came to the gates of Leinster House. It is difficult for people to come to the gates of Leinster House to tell strangers that they are rationing fuel or struggling to put food on the table, and to feel that they have to say it. That is a great shame on one of the richest countries in the world.

It is an amendment that very much ignores the lived reality. The amendment the Government has brought forward is extremely long. It does not once mention the words "poverty" or "deprivation". It ignores that lived reality.

When the SILC data is published annually, I always look at enforced deprivation because they are the people who cannot afford a decent pair of shoes, who are struggling to keep the heat on in their homes or are struggling to have a meal with meat once a week. On the figure for 2025, it is unfortunate that the CSO does not actually speak to and label various household compositions and who is in those households in terms of disabled people. They are classed as people out of work. A total of 39.2% of those people had lived and experienced enforced deprivation in 2025. That figure is up from the year before. That is stark. It represents people who are really struggling, day-to-day, to heat their homes and have a warm meal. It is really regrettable that the Government's very long amendment fails to acknowledge those people who are living in poverty and who are experiencing deprivation. The rest of the amendment speaks to all of the budget measures from last year, all of which remain ineffective while people continue to live and experience poverty.

The second part of our motion is a commitment to introduce a cost of disability payment. The Government should commit to doing that in the next budget. The Minister should commit to a cost-of-disability payment in the next budget. There is an opportunity to do that this evening. The Minister did not commit to it in the amendment but I hope he will here this evening because people need to know that is coming. Unless we acknowledge that deprivation and those levels of poverty and those at risk of poverty, we are very much failing those people who experience it and live it, day in, day out.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Government amendment is nothing short of a disgrace. What is being proposed by Sinn Féin? We call for the immediate introduction of an emergency budget with supports for workers and families, including a €500 lump sum for people with disabilities. I know the Minister accepts there is a huge cost of disability. There would not be much point in having the consultation he had - with all of the deficiencies that were in it - if not for the fact the Government accepts there is a cost of disability. On the basis of the payments that have been made in previous budgets, I also know there was an acceptance there is a cost of disability that must be looked after. The only thing that lets all of this down is that this year, we, like many others in this Chamber, have been inundated by people talking about the cost of disability that is impacting on them now.

There are plenty of disability reports. We can go back to the Cost of Disability in Ireland, the Indecon report in 2021 and the Minister's own failed Green Paper on the cost of disability in 2023. The big one is from the ESRI and IHREC called Adjusting Estimates of Poverty for the Cost of Disability. What do they average the cost out at? They say it is €488 to €555. If you are talking about more challenging needs, it is €786 per week to €875 per week. That is the reality. I thank Physical Impairment Ireland. It provided me with a document called the list of shame. I can see why the consultation did not allow for those with disabilities to ask questions. Many physically impaired people exist in State-sanctioned poverty. Those unable to work live in physical impairment poverty in Ireland. It is now the case of deciding whether to eat or turn on the heating during the day and this is not acceptable. We have all heard the stories of those who cannot afford to charge wheelchairs. Heating may be less of a worry this week than it is most weeks but this is Ireland and the weather we are having is a particular outlier.

I also commend the Disability Federation of Ireland, Access for All and the Irish Wheelchair Association, which have been to the fore in relation to this. We have all read - or many of us should have read - the lived reality piece. People with disabilities should not have to fight for everything. If a person gets a job, they would lose their PA hours. The system makes no sense. They cannot afford medication the doctor says they need. They drag out blood tests as long as they can. It is a disgrace.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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People living with a disability face a double disadvantage. They face lower employment rates combined with a higher cost of living, as the Minister knows. Those living with a disability are entitled to an adequate standard of living, like the rest of us. That standard includes safe, accessible housing, nutritious food, quality healthcare, rehabilitation services, education and access to meaningful employment opportunities. Yet, this Government took the entitlements from them in last year's budget. It did so by withdrawing critical emergency supports for workers and families and through the withdrawal of €1,400 worth of cost-of-living supports for people with a disability. These actions have directly impacted the quality of life of those living with a disability. These actions have been done and maintained despite the pleas of disability rights and campaigning groups and service users. Many of us have met them, whether in here or outside of the Dáil, where they had to protest themselves. Those living with a disability use the maxim "Nothing about us without us". However, when it comes to this Government, it presses ahead with a "Nothing for you regardless" approach.

Our motion today is to support those living with a disability. It is supports their families. It is a response to the crippling costs that have been imposed on these families. While the costs remain and increase, the supports disappear. A 2024 Disability Federation of Ireland submission to the Department of Social Protection noted that 44.7% of people unable to work due to a disability experienced deprivation and 27% of them were at risk of poverty. What amazes me is that we know this and this was known to the Government, prior to last year's budget, and yet it still cruelly opted to cut necessary supports. It was a shameful decision that should be reversed by the introduction of an emergency budget with a €500 lump sum for disabled people. When the ESRI appeared before the disability matters committee, which I chair, in November 2025, it referenced a research programme it conducted with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission that estimated the cost of disability is between 52% and 59% of disposable income of disabled households. For those households where a member has severe limitations, this cost increases to 93% of their disposable income, leaving them with absolutely nothing.

When we call for a lump sum payment and the introduction of the cost-of-disability scheme, this is not a call for charity. It is a call for justice. It is a call to ensure that every person, regardless of disability, has the right to participate fully in society. It is a demand that the State and the Government recognises the additional financial costs a person with a disability faces. It is a recognition of the cost of medication, the cost of assistive technology and the cost of home modifications. These are all expenses that should not push a family into poverty.

It is past time for the Government to reverse these disgraceful cuts. It is past time for reviews and reports. It is now a time for action. It is time to recognise those with a disability for who they are; people who bring great value to our island.

Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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This evening I want to make it very clear what is at stake. As someone who has spent a significant portion of my adult life working with adults with disabilities, I witnessed the pressures they face. It is not just about heating a home or buying food. It is about the endless hidden costs that the vast majority of people never see. It is about those extra expenses able-bodied people never have to think about; the cost of transport, the need for specialist equipment or how restricted they are, even with transport options. It all adds up to constant, grinding reality. There is a heightened risk of poverty for those living with a disability in this country.

Tonight we stand here again speaking on the hidden cost of disability, just as we did a few months ago. Those with a disability and their families cannot afford a repeat of what happened then. They were left disappointed, angered and feeling abandoned by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs as they voted down a motion on an emergency €400 cost-of-living payment for people with disabilities. The Government listened to the personal stories of relentless financial pressure crushing our disabled community and then turned its back. Week after week, we raise these cases. We bring the Government the pleas of people being left behind and yet, it falls on deaf ears. I have to ask the Minister directly; who is this Government championing? Is it the person with a disability who is struggling to survive? Is it a family struggling to find a home or affordable childcare? Is it the large property developers and multinationals, like Starbucks and McDonalds, which want to pay less tax?

When we look at the measures the Minister's party has put in place, the answer is clear: corporate giants receive generous tax breaks while our most vulnerable citizens do not even receive enough to keep up with inflation. The welfare and treatment of our most vulnerable citizens is the mark of the society we want to achieve. That is not my opinion; that is a measure of our humanity.

We need to see this Government act. We need to see it stand with the tens of thousands of people with disabilities and their families who are at the highest risk of poverty and deprivation. I have heard from far too many people in Carlow and Kilkenny who are experiencing a level of hardship they have never known before, hardship caused by the Government's failure to act. Deputy Kerrane summed things up quite well in what she said about the Minister's amendment. It seems to me that the Government is just not listening.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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The one clear message the Government is sending out today to people with disabilities, because of the long-winded amendment the Minister is tabling, is that people with disabilities have to wait, wait and wait again. His message to them is that they should accept second best. It is the same for carers, the people who look after them. However, it is particularly the case for people with disabilities, who everybody in this House accepts have additional needs and additional costs because of those disabilities.

People with disabilities want to be treated and respected on the basis of their individual abilities. At each and every step of the way, from when they are born through childhood and into adulthood, they face battles. We have moved countless motions in this House on children with disabilities who must wait for assessments of need, who must wait for access to a therapist, who cannot get a special school place and whose parents are battling for them. If they have a mental health issue, they must wait for access to mental health services. As they enter their teens and adulthood, they find it difficult to get employment. When they get older, they have unique issues, difficulties and challenges as well. They expect that the State will have their backs.

Despite the many billions of euro that the Government has every year in surpluses, which people hear a lot about, we cannot look after the most vulnerable in society. The Government turns its back on people with disabilities, who simply ask that exceptional needs payments and emergency payments be provided to deal with the reality of the cost-of-living crisis right now, today, tomorrow, next week and next month. The Minister, reflecting the usual position of the Government, is saying it will kick the can down the road and might do something in 2027. I do not see too many people holding their breath that it is going to happen.

I am afraid that for far too long when it comes to disability, we have not treated children or adults with the respect they deserve. We are not treating them on the basis of equality and we are certainly not doing everything possible to ensure they can live full lives in the same way as everybody else. That is the least they deserve. I am extremely disappointed that the motion moved by Teachta O'Reilly and all of the measures we have outlined – practical, deliverable and realistic proposals that would make a real difference right now for people with disabilities – are not being accepted. It is a slap in the face. There is no other way to characterise it, and it is deeply upsetting and disappointing.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and thank Teachta O'Reilly and colleagues for moving it. I am sorry that they have had to move such a motion again. The Minister will have seen similar motions from other Opposition groups.

The motion calls clearly on the Government to stop turning a blind eye and to finally deliver an emergency cost-of-disability payment, not next month and not in the next budget, but now. In last year's budget, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made a cold, cruel choice. They left people with disabilities €1,400 worse off. Just think about that. It is not a figure on a spreadsheet; it is the difference between heating a home and powering a wheelchair. It is the difference between a hot meal and an impossible choice. We have heard testimonies from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Barnardos, the Disability Federation of Ireland, other disabled persons' organisations, and advocacy groups, but more importantly, in our constituency clinics and communities, at kitchen tables and sitting beside people.

Households with a disabled member are being forced to choose between food, warmth and equipment essential to their lives. The average energy arrears of a household are nearly €500, but for families with a disabled member it is far higher. The Government should not hide behind the seasons or the weather. Just because we are moving into warmer months does not mean the additional costs disappear. Energy bills, including for heating, and bills for water, medical devices, transport and care do not take a summer break.

Sinn Féin is demanding an emergency cost-of-living budget, a lump sum payment for people with disabilities now and a permanent cost-of-disability scheme to end this neglect for good. People with disabilities should not have to beg for a decent standard of living. The Minister should withdraw his insulting amendment. People with disabilities are entitled to live with dignity, independence and security. This Government has a responsibility to act. It is time it fulfilled it.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "acknowledges that:

— the State provides a broad range of income, education, health and other supports for disabled people, has increased investment in these supports and under the leadership of the Cabinet Committee of Disability Matters chaired by the Taoiseach, will continue to prioritise further improvements over the lifetime of this Government, including with respect to the introduction of a cost of disability payment;

— Budget 2026 provided for a €1.15 billion package of new social protection measures, bringing expenditure in respect of disabled people and their carers to just under €6 billion per annum, this contained significant targeted measures to support disabled people and carers, including:

— a €10, or 4.1 per cent increase in the weekly rates of disability payments, bringing personal rates to €254 per week from January, this represents an additional payment of €520 in 2026 and a €51 increase in weekly disability income support payments since Budget 2021;

— the highest ever increase in the weekly Child Support Payment, an increase of €16 to €78 for children aged 12 or over (an additional €832 per child in 2026), and €8 to €58 for children aged under 12 (an additional €416 per child in 2026), these payments have increased by €48.20 and €28.20 per week respectively since 2017, approximately, 53,000 recipients of the Disability Allowance (DA), the Blind Pension and the Invalidity Pension are in receipt of a Child Support Payment;

— a €5, or 15 per cent increase in the Fuel Allowance, bring it to €38 per week from January 2026, providing recipients with an additional €140 during the annual Fuel Allowance season;

— a €20 per month increase in the monthly rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance, bringing it to €380 per month from January 2026, this represents an additional payment of €240 per year in 2026, and an increase of over €70 or 23 per cent since 2022;

— an increase in the weekly Carer's Allowance income disregard to €1,000 for a single person (up from €625) and €2,000 for a couple (up from €1,250), while the weekly income limit for Carer's Benefit will rise by €375 to €1,000, all from July 2026;

— the extension of fuel allowance eligibility to enable people on DA or the Blind Pension payments to retain their Fuel Allowance payment for five years if they take up employment;

— the extension of eligibility for Back to Work Family Dividend payment to the DA or Blind Pension recipients when taking up employment;

— expansion of eligibility for the Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) to people who acquire a disability while in employment, and to those who transfer from Invalidity Pension to Partial Capacity Benefit; and

— increased payment rates under the WSS, to encourage employers to employ disabled people;

— Budget 2026, also included an increased allocation of €3.88 billion for disability services funded through the Department of Children, Disability and Equality in 2026, providing €2.21 billion to deliver residential services for over 9,000 disabled people, enabling them to live as independently as possible in their local communities, including:

— day and night respite care of over 10,000 extra nights and 15,000 further day sessions;

— €10 million extra to support the transition of people under the age of 65 currently residing in nursing homes;

— €3 million extra for the development and continued expansion of Community Neuro-Rehabilitation Teams;

— €24.5 million providing approximately 1,400 new places for disabled students leaving school;

— €5.5 million for 100,000 additional home support hours and 50,000 additional personal assistance hours;

— €8 million for the recruitment of 150 additional staff for Children's Disability Network Teams;

— €20 million extra for the Assessment of Need Targeted Waitlist Initiative, through the provision of up to 6,000 clinical assessments; and

— €65 million for new developments in disability residential services, including €40 million that will provide in the region of 199 residential responses, including 152 newly created residential placements;

— Budget 2026, also provided for further improvements for disabled people in education, including an allocation of €3 billion to special education, will provide:

— an additional 860 teachers for special education;

— up to a further 3,000 special class and special school places for the 2026/2027 school year; and

— 1,717 additional Special Needs Assistants bringing the total number to almost 24,900;

— in addition, Budget 2026 provided:

— €130 million under the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with Disabilities;

— a €25 million allocation to the Public Transport Accessibility Retrofit Programme, to deliver bus and train accessibility improvements to increase the numbers of wheelchair accessible small public service vehicles (taxis), and to expand the Independent Travel Support scheme;

— approximately an allocation increase of €2 million to €13 million, to the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme Fuel Grant;

— investment of €69 million in the School Transport Scheme, which will benefit 26,700 students with disabilities; and

— an increase of €3 million for the Fund for Students with Disabilities in further and higher education to €18.2 million, which supports over 24,500 students;

notes that:

— the €250 million energy relief package introduced in March included a four-week extension to the Fuel Allowance season, this directly benefits over 96,000 families where the recipient is in receipt of either the DA, the Blind Pension, or the Invalidity Pension;

— under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, a special Heating Supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances that have special heating needs, for example, in the case of ill health, infirmity or a medical condition; and

— the Additional Needs Payment may also be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of their own resources;

further acknowledges that:

— a dedicated Disability Unit has been established in the Department of the Taoiseach, to drive progress in enhancing supports for disabled people;

— progress will be monitored by the Cabinet Committee on Children, Disability and Education chaired by the Taoiseach;

— in addition to the measures already taken, the Government is determined to deliver on its Programme for Government commitment to introduce a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment;

— this commitment was reiterated as a core objective of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which the Government published in September 2025;

— under this strategy, the Minister for Social Protection hosted a Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network Summit (the Summit) on 13th May, 2026, this summit brought together over 300 people (in-person and on-line), including disabled people, representatives from Disabled Person's Organisations (DPOs), key stakeholder groups, Members of the Oireachtas and officials from a number of Government Departments; and

— reflecting the requirement for a whole-of-Government approach to addressing costs of disability the Summit was addressed by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and also attended by the Minister of State with responsibility for Disability at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality;

— the approach to and content of the Summit was informed by:

— responses to a public consultation to which over 1,100 submissions received;

— direct input from DPOs who helped to develop the agenda, and played a key role at the event including, leading sessions; and

— all relevant research, including the Indecon Report entitled 'The Cost of Disability in Ireland' in 2021, which was commissioned by the Department of Social Protection and represents the largest and most comprehensive analysis of the cost of disability;

— the discussions at the Summit highlighted:

— how the costs of disability are not uniform, but vary significantly depending on the type and nature of a person's disability, and their personal circumstances;

— not all costs can be addressed through a cost of disability payment as many costs relate to services and require measures across other sectors, including health, education and transport; and

— the preference by disabled people, for a basic universal payment made to all disabled people supplemented by additional amounts for disabled people facing the highest costs; and

further notes that the Department of Social Protection will continue to engage with disabled people and their advocates, with respect to a cost of disability payment, including at the Department's Pre-Budget Forum on 1st July.".

The Government's amendments sets out our current and future work in respect of the costs of disability. The Government fully recognises that disabled people face unavoidable and ongoing additional costs in their daily lives. The concerns of disabled people and their family members have come through very clearly in the many personal contributions we have received in response to the very recent public consultation process and at the summit two weeks ago.

Improving outcomes for disabled people is a major priority for the Government. Our determination to achieve this is reflected in the programme for Government commitment to introduce a permanent annual cost-of-disability payment. This is also the core objective of the national human rights strategy for disabled people for the period 2025 to 2030, which was developed with the involvement of disability advocates and representative groups. The Taoiseach has set up a dedicated disability unit in his Department to drive progress.

We know that addressing the cost of disability is not a question of income support alone. The delivery of and access to services are also key, and that is acknowledged in the research. All Departments and agencies must work together to address the issue in a comprehensive way. That is why the dedicated unit in the Taoiseach's office is crucial.

The strategic focus network on the cost of disability was a key commitment under the national human rights strategy for disabled people. The public consultation was a key action that was taken before we held the summit. It ran for just over six weeks until Tuesday, 7 April. There was an exceptional response, with over 1,100 submissions received. Eighty-seven submissions were from groups and organisations and 12 from disabled persons' organisations and disabled persons' representative organisations. Accessible ways to participate were widely used, with 60 submissions made over the phone, 20 by post and seven by video.

I hosted the strategic focus network on the cost of disability on 13 May. It was attended by 150 people in person, with the same number joining online. Given its cross-government nature, it included other Departments as well as disabled people and their advocates. Representatives from disabled persons' organisations, key stakeholder groups and Members of the Oireachtas attended. The summit was addressed by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, her Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Canney. I spent the entire day at the summit engaging with and speaking to those who attended, formally and informally, and I am very much aware of their personal experiences.

The approach and content of the summit were informed by the responses to the public consultation process, direct input from disabled persons' organisations that helped to develop the agenda and played a key role throughout the event, bilateral meetings with stakeholder groups, and the relevant research, including the Indecon and ESRI reports. We heard directly, informally and formally, about the lived experience of disabled people, the unavoidable costs they incurred and the impact these costs had on their lives.

The discussions highlighted that the costs of disability were not uniform but varied significantly depending on the type and nature of a person's disability and his or her personal circumstances. Many costs relate to services that require measures across all sectors, including health, education and transport.

There was also a preference among disabled people for a basic universal payment made to all disabled people, supplemented by additional amounts for disabled people facing the highest costs. The summit and the submissions made through the consultation process will inform the approach to designing a payment and to identifying other cross-government ways to address the cost of disability in a meaningful and sustainable way.

Sinn Féin made a submission. However, unlike other parties that nailed their colours to the mast in relation to the amount of that submission, Sinn Féin said about rates of payment that the amounts must sufficiently cover additional costs of disability, reflective of the rise in costs of essential consumer goods, medicines, rent, transport and energy at the time of implementation. It had nothing more specific to highlight than that. There was also a chance to engage in the consultation process around eligibility. We in the Government are doing that job. We are engaging in the design of and eligibility for the payment. We are engaging with all the relevant organisations to do that. We are currently assessing all of the submissions in that regard. The report of the summit and the submissions will be presented to the implementation and monitoring committee, chaired by the Taoiseach, and will feed into the budget 2027 process.

After budget 2026, there are currently over 232,000 recipients of disability income support payments and over 174,600 recipients of carer's payments. Expenditure across illness, disability and carer's schemes in 2026 will be in the region of €6 billion, which represents an increase in expenditure of 38% since 2020. Budget 2026 provided for a €1.15 billion package of new social protection measures. We increased the weekly personal rates of payments such as disability allowance by €10, or 4.1%. This brings the personal rates of payment to €254 per week. It represents a €51 increase in weekly disability income support payments, and equates to an additional €520 in the full year 2026.

Weekly rates of child support payment have increased by €16 to €78 for children aged 12 or over, and by €8 to €58 for children under 12. These are the largest ever increases in these payments. Approximately 53,000 recipients of disability allowance, blind pension and invalidity pension are in receipt of a child support payment. They will receive an additional €832 per child aged 12 or over and an additional €416 per child aged under 12 per year. The domiciliary care allowance increased by €20, which represents an additional payment of €240 per year in 2026.

We also made significant changes to the carer’s allowance means test. The weekly income disregard has increased by 60% to €1,000 for a single person and to €2,000 for carers with a spouse or partner. Since June 2022, this amounts to cumulative increases to the disregard of just over 200%. These are the largest ever increases in the carer’s allowance income disregard. We have extended eligibility for the fuel allowance to enable those on disability allowance or blind pension to retain the payment for five years if they take up employment. We have provided a €5 increase in the fuel allowance, which brings it to €38 per week. We have provided an additional €140 in the regular annual fuel season. The extension of the fuel allowance to 1 May ensured that an additional €38 per week, which totalled an additional €152 per month, was paid. For an additional 96,000 families, the recipient is in receipt of either disability allowance, blind pension or invalidity pension in relation to the fuel allowance.

I am focused on those in employment and supporting people to take up and remain in employment. We have reduced the number of bands in the wage subsidy scheme from five to three and all rates were increased. Since April, the base right is €7.50 per hour, up from €6.30. Employers of between seven and 16 employees under the scheme will receive a new rate of €8.50 per hour. The scheme has been extended to certain people already at work who acquire a disability or whose ability to work is reduced such that their job, task or role must be adapted significantly. We have a lot more to do in the area of employment of people with disabilities. It will be a key focus during the EU Presidency.

In budget 2026, the Minister, Deputy Foley, secured an increased allocation of €3.8 billion for disability services, an allocation of €3 billion to special education and other supports that go directly to improving the lives of those with disabilities, including through the opportunities and supports available. I again highlight that there is a range of supports available for people who are struggling with heating and energy costs. We will continue to make information available in relation to those supports.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss these important issues and to outline the supports available. We are committed to introducing a cost-of-disability payment. It is my priority for budget 2027. The contributions to the consultation process and the discussions at the summit are informing the design of that payment. I thank Deputies for the opportunity to discuss the issue.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister and his Government are failing children with disabilities. It is not just children but adults, too. That is clear. We saw it earlier this year, when people gathered outside the gates of Leinster House to protest the decisions that the Government has taken. It is not just the lack of services and supports. The fact that the Government sat around the Cabinet table and decided to leave people with disabilities €1,400 worse off is shocking. It is an indictment. This motion relates to the cost of disability and Sinn Féin's call is to start to reverse that, to immediately make €500 available to people with disabilities and to bring forward a meaningful cost-of-disability payment that would meet the needs of people with disabilities.

The cost of disability is not just measured in euro and cent. It is also measured in the delays and dithering of the Government. When I say that, I am thinking clearly of two young children, and they are two of 150, in my constituency of Donegal, namely, young Aaron Langan from Laghy and young Diarmuid O'Sullivan from the Finn Valley. I had the pleasure of spending Sunday with young Aaron. He has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD. He was here last year, demanding that the Government allow him access to a drug that was approved by the European Commission. It was approved one year ago next Saturday. He was demanding early access. He was walking around when that was happening. Today, he is in a wheelchair. Without access to that drug, people such as Aaron and the 150 others will not have quality of life. I am asking the Minister to deal with the cost of disability with no more delays in terms of euro and access to crucial medication.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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Disabled people and their advocates made their requests clear well in advance of the budget. They were simple and reasonable, and called for the Government to address the additional costs of disability. This was not a new demand or an unknown issue. The Government itself had commissioned research into the cost of disability. In the context of a €9 billion budget surplus, you would think that acting on its own findings would not have been a difficult decision. Instead, the Government chose to do nothing. In fact, as we all know but it bears repeating, disabled people were left €1,400 worse off following the most recent budget.

Over the past seven months, people from across Kildare have contacted my office looking for help and answers. Why does this Government continue to ignore our needs? No one should be pushed into financial hardship because they have a disability. The State has a responsibility to ensure that disabled people can participate in society equally and live with dignity. They should not have to fight for the basic supports they need to get though everyday life. Disabled people are still being forced to make impossible choices between charging essential equipment and putting food on the table. Families continue to feel the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis despite Government claims that the worst is behind us.

We already know what is needed because disabled people have been telling us for months. Research estimates that the cost of disability is approximately €500 per week. People with chronic illnesses are forgotten. People living with conditions such as Crohn's disease and colitis face significant, ongoing medical expenses, yet these conditions remain excluded from the long-term illness scheme. People who require lifelong medication, regular hospital appointments and specialist treatment are still expected to shoulder additional costs and it is simply not fair. People do not need support next year or after another consultation process. They need support now. That is why Sinn Féin is calling for a mini-budget and an emergency €500 payment for disabled people, alongside the introduction of a permanent cost-of-disability payment. The needs of disabled people and their families have not disappeared since the last time the House debated this issue.

Caithfidh an Rialtas seo beart a dhéanamh de réir a briathair agus an costas breise a bhaineann le maireachtáil le míchumas a aithint. Tá íocaíocht éigeandála €500 ag teastáil ó theaghlaigh le míchumas anois agus is cóir scéim bhuan a tabhairt isteach gan a thuilleadh moille

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The simple reality, the simple fact we all know, is that people who have a disability are much more likely to be poor, much more likely to be under incredible pressure at the end of the month and much more likely to have to make decisions about whether to pay a bill or do the shopping or whether they can afford a piece of equipment or to pay for insurance. These are the decisions people with disabilities face on a monthly basis and the reality is that situation has got worse.

After the last budget, people with disabilities were €1,400 worse off, according to independent analysis. They were worse off at a time the Government produced a budget with the biggest tax giveaway in the history of the State. It did not benefit ordinary workers, but went to developers, funds and so on. Ultimately, people with disabilities were right at the back of the queue, which is completely unacceptable and it needs to be redressed now. That is why we are calling for an emergency budget. It needs to be addressed.

I cannot believe the Government moved an amendment to our motion, withdrawing the call for an emergency budget and emergency payment. We have to return to the cost-of-disability payment. Under the last Government, the then Minister, Heather Humphreys, tried to bring in a system that seemed to be trying to coax and force people into work that would not have been suitable for them, almost on pain of losing their payments. It was completely rejected by disabled people's organisations and people with disabilities generally, but that is not a reason not to deal with the issue. The Government should not do it like that. It should not use a stick to deprive people of payments. Let us figure out what are the additional costs people have and how to meet them, because they can vary depending on whether people are living in urban or rural areas, the nature of the disability and so on. I know it is complex, that it is not necessarily simple, but it has to be addressed and it does not seem as if the Department is pursuing it with enough vigour.

Other people have made the point that people with disabilities and their families face struggles all their lives. One of the biggest ones being faced at the moment is that there is no plan for children with intellectual disabilities towards the end of their parents' or carers' lives, when they are in their 70s and 80s. The Before We Die campaign is highlighting this, that there is no plan for when people are no longer able to care and that is not acceptable.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Every day, people with disabilities and their families are forced to pay more just to live an ordinary life. They pay more for transport, heating, medical equipment, care and simply getting through the week. Yet, the Government expects people to survive on a €10 increase to the disability allowance that does not even keep pace with inflation. The Government's Indecon report confirmed the cost of having a disability can range from €9,500 to almost €12,000 per year. The Disability Federation of Ireland found that households with a disabled member require up to 59% more disposable income just to achieve the same standard of living as others. For those with severe disabilities, that figure can rise to 93%. These are not abstract figures. They mean families skipping meals, cutting back on heating, struggling with rent and falling deeper into poverty. Figures from 2024 showed that, even when cost-of-disability supports were in place, one in four people with disabilities remained at risk of poverty. Yet, instead of strengthening supports, the Government has ripped them away. The energy credits, lump-sum supports and cost-of-living measures are gone. People with disabilities are now effectively facing a loss in supports of more than €1,400 per year compared with previous budgets. This is because the budget of last year was not in an election year.

The motion calls for basic fairness. Sinn Féin is calling for a permanent and immediate cost-of-disability payment to help people to cope with rising costs. The Government's amendment is disappointing.

We also need to address the poverty trap the Government has engineered. Ireland has one of the worst disability employment rates in Europe. People want opportunities but low income disregards and poor support actively discourage participation. The Government's approach is detached from reality and deeply unfair. People with disabilities cannot be treated as an afterthought every budget season. They deserve dignity, respect and meaningful support, not empty promises.

The Government is holding off for as long as it can with supports for disabilities, hoping the most vulnerable in society will go silent. The recent cost-of-disability public consultation is a delay tactic. The Government knows the vulnerable are suffering and finding it hard to cope with the cost-of-living, yet every individual with a disability must fight for supports. Residential places are getting scarce. Respite care is at times impossible to get and independent living is being encouraged by HIQA, yet supports are not available for people living with a disability to be able to live independently.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this important motion on the cost of disability. It is important that the Minister is here to hear what the Opposition has to say about it. The Labour Party has continually raised the ongoing cost-of-living crisis that is affecting many households across Ireland and having a particularly profound impact on those with disabilities and their families who are dealing with the added difficulty of the cost of disability, day in, day out.

As we all know in this House - it has already been mentioned tonight - The Cost of Disability in Ireland report by Indecon showed that people with a disability face additional costs of between almost €9,000 and more than €12,000 per year. People living on disability allowance cannot be expected to absorb such massive costs alone. Budget 2026 should have been the budget in which the Government finally implemented the cost-of-disability payment, but it was pushed out again for another year. Given the public consultation on the matter, I sincerely hope the upcoming budget will at least make some progress towards getting this payment into the pockets of those who deserve it most. After the choices the Government made in that budget, disabled people are €1,400 worse off and I have no doubt those costs have increased massively due to the ongoing price rises in fuel, food and rent.

In my constituency office, I continue to see the consequences of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's poor decisions. Disabled people and their families are struggling to put food on the table and pay bills. Like many households in Ireland, they are just surviving. Instead of supporting disabled people, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents who support them decided to cut the VAT rate for fast-food chains that are already making millions in profits. This VAT could have funded a new cost-of-disability payment starting at €25 per week, with money left over to do more for disabled people and their families. These are the choices the Government made and they are hurting many in this community.

Only a few weeks ago, the Labour Party brought forward a motion for a mini-budget that would undo the terrible budget decisions the Government made, but again, the Government sided with big business, while disabled people, workers and families were left worse off. I counted at least eight commitments to address the cost of disability in the programme for Government, not one of which has been addressed. They include a commitment to extending free travel to children who receive domiciliary care allowance, DCA. Disabled people and their families need to see action from the Government on the ongoing costs they continue to face. The Minister will be familiar with my continued calls to raise the DCA from 16 to 18 years. This because more than 800 parents said in a survey I recently carried out that it is the right thing to do. I could recount many of the reasons people stated that in response to the survey.

This is becoming a massive issue for many families. Information I received from the Minister's Department shows that between 2022 and 2025 almost 16% of children were unsuccessful in their applications to move from DCA to disability allowance. That amounts to more than 1,300 children. We must remember that the DCA payment is a payment designed specifically for children who have a severe disability. Yet, I am currently supporting many families of 16-year-olds who are trying to prove they have a disability despite already receiving DCA. This is completely wrong and places emotional strain on families with the constant battle for what they are entitled to. As many of those who have contacted me said, their child's disability did not go away when they turned 16. This is the part they cannot understand.

I am currently dealing with a number of cases of people with a disability trying to get to hospital appointments, turning to Alone and other such organisations to see whether they can help. A woman who has spent her lifetime in a wheelchair came to my office recently because she is unable to afford the high cost of a special taxi to attend a regular hospital appointment that is necessary for her quality of life.

That is just one example of many I could give here as to why we need a cost of disability payment now and not a promise on a piece of paper. The ongoing cost of disability is placing an immense pressure on disabled people and their families. Government cannot continue to ignore the reality that people are facing. We need to see action from Government to bring down the costs so many households are dealing with, including those for disabled people. The Minister mentioned in his speech that the Government had increased the disability allowance by €10. Is he aware that a number of approved housing bodies where many of those living with a disability are living - and thankfully living - have recently increased their rents? In a surprise move, the AHBs have increased their rents by €10; exactly what the Government gave them in the budget. It is being given with one hand and the approved housing bodies are taking away with the other hand, and those with disabilities are simply no better off.

I will finish with an email. I previously highlighted a case of a constituent of mine who has a disability and the ongoing cost of living is putting immense pressure on her and her family. It perfectly sums up the consequence of a Fianna Fail and Fine Gael Government and what it has done to so many people living with a disability. She says:

I am not looking for money to go and buy treats. It is just for physio and acupuncture which helps with my pain, diesel money and car parking for regular medical appointments. Tallaght Hospital costs €10 for parking. [The €10 again] Good quality shoes to help me with walking. The daily cost of living is crazy. What can I do so the Government can hear my voice?

This is what is happening on the ground. I sincerely hope the Minister will listen to the motion being brought forward by Sinn Féin and that he will withdraw the Government countermotion. These are the people who need our help and they need it now.

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on the cost of disability. It is something that has been raised on a consistent basis since I entered this Dáil Chamber over 18 months ago and it has been brought to my attention on a number of occasions in that time by many people, including parents, those living with disabilities themselves, schools and grandparents who have come into the constituency office who are obviously fearing for their grandchildren who may have a disability or their adult grandchildren who cannot get access to further education and employment. For a long time in this country we have had slogans about it. We have had protests and then we have had short-term responses to what the particular protests are about. However, for many disabled people and their families these are not occasional pressures. They are becoming permanent pressures and a permanent financial reality.

Living with a disability often brings unavoidable additional costs. I know this acutely, even from a personal perspective. People have higher energy bills, increased transport expenses, medical and therapeutic supports, specialised equipment, housing adaptations and, in many cases, reduced opportunities to participate fully in education or employment, as I said. These are not optional costs; they are essential costs. We can speak about grants, say, for home adaptations and things like that. It is the case a majority of the time that those grants for housing adaptations do not necessarily fit for these very people. Research commissioned by the Government has demonstrated that the additional cost of disability can amount to many thousands of euro every year. Yet, despite growing recognition of the issue, too many people continue to struggle to meet those costs on inadequate incomes. Advocacy organisations such as the Disability Federation of Ireland and Inclusion Ireland have consistently highlighted the financial strain being experienced by disabled people, carers and families right across the country. Behind every statistic is a lived experience. There are parents who are forced to absorb enormous additional household costs simply to ensure their child can access basic services, people on disability allowance who are trying to manage rising energy and transport bills while living on a fixed income, and young disabled people who want independence and participation in society but face financial barriers at every stage of life. These are serious issues that require serious policy responses.

There have been important steps taken in recent years, and it is right to acknowledge that awareness of the cost of disability has grown significantly across the political system. However, awareness alone is not enough. What is needed now is a sustained commitment to reducing disability poverty and recognising the real and recurring costs that disabled people face every single day. The Labour Party is practical about this. In our 2026 alternative budget we placed an extremely strong emphasis on protecting living standards and supporting those under the greatest pressure. Our alternative budget including proposals to increase core social welfare rates, strengthen energy and household supports, deliver broader cost-of-living measures designed to support vulnerable households, and scrap the means test of the carer's allowance at a cost of €330 million. That is a costed real-life solution for many families right across this country. It is often the case that people come in here with populist slogans and do not have the costed proposals with them or often do not have the right answer for the people who are there. The solution, however, has been given to the Minister about getting rid of the means test for carer's allowance. Disability policy cannot be treated in isolation from housing, healthcare, transport or energy policy. All of these issues are connected. At its core, this debate is about equality and dignity. A fair republic should not ask disabled people to carry a disproportionate financial burden simply because the supports around them are inadequate. The objective should not merely be helping people to cope. It should be ensuring that disabled people can participate fully in society, live independently and enjoy the same opportunities and quality of life as every other citizen. That should be the ambition of every public policy and that is the standard we should set for ourselves as legislators.

As the Minister is here, it is important to point out that applications for any social welfare payment, but particularly for those who have disabilities, are not seamless. At times they are extremely difficult. The Minister will know this himself because I am absolutely sure his constituency office is as busy, if not busier, than my own. I have no issue with it and neither does my secretary, who has done it for 30 years, but as these applications are not seamless what we find is that people who are living with disabilities have to come to the office, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, and ask us to fill out the application form with them. That is a difficult process for those people to go through and it is really something the Department should look into trying to resolve.

Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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I start by thanking Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. It is very important and I am very glad that it did.

Here we go again. We are back here again, several months after I introduced a motion calling for an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities. I am a new TD. I like to listen to what is happening around here. One of the first debates I saw was a three-hour debate on disabilities. It came from all sides of the House. Everybody was talking about how it was very difficult for families who had a disabled person in their home. We all agreed with it. What was the point of that conversation if the Government is not willing to put its money where its mouth is and if it is not willing to support motions like this to make sure people get the kinds of payments they need? In January, I called for an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities. In that debate, the Minister refused to acknowledge the lived experience of people with disabilities. He refused to acknowledge that people were choosing between heating and eating. He called it alarmist language and said that it was dangerous. I have asked him since to withdraw those remarks. He still has not done so, which, quite frankly, is shocking and despicable. There was a protest just before that debate and Michael from Clare, a fairly young fella, told me how he had to choose how many heating rungs on his electric heater he could afford to turn on. That is the reality that people are living with. We have heard these experiences over and over.

I will read into the record some other lived experiences because the Minister seems not to be familiar with them. He seems to be ignoring them completely, month after month, year after year in this Government.

These are all from the Disability Federation of Ireland. On unemployment:

It's financially irresponsible of me to go full-time at work [...] it's better for me to stay part-time than it is to go full-time, which makes no sense.

When I reach 66, I lose all my disability payments, but the extra costs don't go away.

On healthcare:

Because I don't have a medical card, I'm only allowed six physiotherapy sessions a year.

I can't afford medication the doctor says I need ... I drag out blood tests as long as I can.

On financial hardship:

Some weeks its a toss between food or bills as there's nothing left. The disability allowance I receive falls so short in covering my financial needs. I feel penalised and knowing I will continue to deteriorate with no hope for a better future for myself and my children can be unbearable.

I have to attend a food bank weekly ... apart from it being demoralising, it's a necessity to survive. I know the cold, long winter nights are only around the corner, and it scares me.

Simply, the word saving does not apply to me, as I simply have nothing left over.

I'm not looking to be a millionaire. I'm looking for security, home, heat, food, family and not to fight for every basic thing.

We are more reliant than ever on our families and our independence is being eroded. This is not because of our disability. This is because we need to address the cost of [that disability].

You get tired of being the one who says 'sorry, I can't go'... people think you don't care, but you just can't afford it.

The ministers making decisions don't have a clue what it's like to have a disability.

People with disabilities shouldn't have to fight for everything.

We in the Opposition are fighting for people with disabilities. We have been fighting for months. We will be fighting for years, it seems like. Last week I was speaking to a constituent who has a disability. She is being evicted from her home. One thing she said to me that was frustrating was she was worried about gaining employment. I was at the summit the Minister of State was at and somebody told me it took them seven months after they lost their job to get their disability allowance back. This just is not working. While the summit was well organised and well done and I congratulate all the participants, it showed the Minister of State is failing at this and needs to act more quickly.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. The Social Democrats have been vocal about disability rights for a long time. Before the last general election, one of our red-line issues was having a Minister for disability. That was because in this country people with disabilities are failed so badly and we want to protect their rights and deliver what they have identified that they need.

The Disability Federation of Ireland is made up of several organisations and its report sets out a stark situation for anyone with a disability. One of the organisations involved is the Irish Wheelchair Association. When I came back from London to Dublin, I worked in that organisation as a personal assistant for a number of people. I had worked as a support worker for people with disabilities in London for a short time and there was a difference in how people with disabilities were treated in the two places.

This Private Members' motion is on costs but I want to highlight the human cost of ignoring and sidelining people who are disabled. The Government's amendment highlights what has been spent by the Department of Education and Youth on disabled people and the additional 860 people for special education. What it fails to say is the allocation for special education teachers was made for mainstream schools in March but, unfortunately, special schools like the mild general learning disabilities schools have not been given their allocation yet, on 26 May. Why is that?

The Government amendment refers to additional SNAs bringing the total to 24,900 which is welcome but that is thanks to the uproar that happened when there was a threat of cuts to SNAs. We have all these SNAs but they still do not have proper contracts, they do not know about redeployment and the workforce planning has not been published yet either. We can throw all the money we want at disabilities and stand up here and say all sorts of things but the reality on the ground is a different situation altogether, one where disabled people are ignored and failed.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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I commend Sinn Féin on this motion. This issue goes to the heart of whether we are serious about disability rights or content to keep repeating the language of disability rights while leaving disabled people to absorb costs that are neither optional, marginal nor of their own making.

The cost of disability means higher expenses associated with transport, equipment, therapies, healthcare, communication supports and personal assistance, among other things. It means the cost of navigating a society that is still far too inaccessible and being expected to pay personally for that inaccessibility. It has been long established that disabled people face major additional financial burdens as a direct result of living with a disability in a society not properly adapted to their needs. The figures are stark: one in five people unable to work due to long-standing illness or disability lives in consistent poverty; around two in five experience enforced deprivation, meaning they cannot afford basics such as heating or new clothes.

The ESRI and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission have shown that when the additional cost of disability is properly factored in, poverty among disabled people is drastically underestimated. Even those figures do not capture the daily reality. At a protest outside Leinster House before Christmas, one person spoke about having to decide whether to turn on one or two bars of an electric heater because energy costs have risen so sharply. At a later session on the Leinster House campus, we heard a harrowing account of a disabled person who had to stop home dialysis because of energy costs and rely instead on hospital dialysis, a change that put her health at greater risk. That example should stop us in our tracks. Home dialysis services a serious medical need. It means a modicum of increased independence in extremely challenging circumstances. It can mean fewer exhausting journeys, a little bit more control over one's life and less pressure on hospital services. Essentially, we have here somebody pushed into greater medical dependency and, ultimately, at greater cost to the State. It is a complete absurdity. Because of the cost of powering essential medical care at home, that person was forced away from the safer and more independent option. That is what the cost of disability can mean in real life. It means people making impossible decisions between heat, health and independence.

This is happening, unforgivably, in a country with a flourishing economy, large budgetary surpluses and repeated Government statements about inclusion, participation and rights. There is a clear commitment in the programme for Government to introduce an annual cost-of-disability payment. There has been a consultation and a summit. There may be further papers, processes and interdepartmental work. Some of that will be necessary but disabled people cannot pay bills with consultations or heat their homes with strategy documents. They cannot run medical equipment on future commitments. The Government needs to move from acknowledgement to serious action.

There must be a permanent annual cost-of-disability payment. There must be immediate relief for people under pressure right now. Disability allowance and related payments must be brought to a level that reflects the reality of poverty, deprivation and additional costs. Too often, our system treats disability support as though it is only about whether someone can or cannot work. However, many disabled people want to work, want to build careers, want to start businesses and want to contribute socially and economically. What they face is a system full of cliff edges, maddening complexity and risk.

Disability campaigner Eddie Hennessy from County Cork has described this powerfully. After a major stroke, Eddie built a photography business and became an award-winning photographer. He has gone to major lengths to highlight the infuriating barriers faced by disabled entrepreneurs: higher costs, the need for personal assistance, the risk of losing essential supports and a lack of joined-up responsibility across Departments and agencies. One reality he has captured is that supports exist, to some extent, for businesses to employ disabled people but not for disabled people to employ themselves. That is exactly the kind of structural barrier we need to confront. For disabled people, self-employment may be the best path to self-actualisation and the best way to work flexibly, yet instead of supporting that ambition, the State often turns it into a bureaucratic nightmare. People are then forced to ask: if I try to work, will I lose my supports? If I take on a contract, will I be punished? If my business has a good month and then a bad month, will the system understand that? If I need assistance to do the parts of the job my disability makes difficult, will that be recognised as a legitimate cost of participation? This is where cost-of-disability policy must connect with policies on employment, enterprise, transport, housing and health.

Otherwise, we trap people in poverty and then congratulate ourselves for speaking about inclusion. The Government cannot continue to describe disability rights as a priority while refusing to resource the basic conditions that make those rights real.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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I thank Deputy O'Reilly and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on the cost of disability. I reiterate what Deputy Doherty said about the situation that Aaron Langan and Diarmuid O'Sullivan are in. The situation is that a year ago we were in the audiovisual room along with Diarmuid and his parents. Diarmuid's story is that he has DMD. His brother also has it and is on a trial which means that he has the medication while Diarmuid does not. That is serious issue. Diarmuid is up against it in the context of time. Aaron Langan is also up against it. Aaron lives in Laghy, which is ten minutes from Belleek in County Fermanagh where the relevant drug is readily available. I plead with the Minister to get something done about this. A year has passed. These children are losing time, and time is muscle. I will move on.

More than 20% of the population are living with a disability. Despite making up a fifth of our population, however, those with disabilities are often left behind. In the context of accessing services, these people are three times more likely to be at risk of entering poverty. That is an absolute disgrace in this day and age. Those to whom I refer have twice the risk of developing conditions such as depression, asthma, stroke, obesity or poor oral health. According to Social Justice Ireland, two in five people with disabilities are unable to afford essentials such as heating and clothing. One in five people with disabilities lives in constant poverty. The ESRI has found that households with disabled members have a lower standard of living than those that do not have disabled members. The cost of disability is between 52% to 59% of disposable income. The average weekly household disposable income for a disabled household is around €944, which means disability costs between €488 and €550 per week. That is another mortgage for people. The Government has to take responsibility and help these people, because as people in every constituency office will confirm, we are constantly inundated.

People with disabilities are €1,400 a year worse off because of the removal of essential supports in budget 2026. That is a fact. It is not surprising that the risk-of-poverty rate is much higher for disabled people compared with their able-bodied counterparts. The risk-of-poverty rate has risen to 24% for disabled people. This compares with a rate of 10% for non-disabled people. The situation is ridiculous. They are not getting equality and households with disabled members require 41% to 93% extra disposable income to meet their standard of living.

When it comes to it, the significant additional costs faced by disabled people are not being met by existing social welfare programmes. We can see that through our constituency offices when we are applying for stuff and trying to help people. Numerous studies have shown that costs are continuing to rise significantly. We need to step up as a State. We need to promote equality and help people. In particular, we need to step up to support disabled people who have been impacted by living houses built using defective concrete. Can the Members imagine having a disability and living in such a home? The costs to run the home are already astronomical because of the structural failures involved. People may have equipment that they need to bolt to the wall but they cannot do so. I deal with these people every day of the week and am trying my best to help them. We tell them that help is coming and that the has said that it is going to help. However, they have been left waiting time and again. It is significant that they feel desperate in their circumstances and in extremely poor conditions in which they live.

As we move forward, the Government needs to start engaging with people who have disabilities and who live in defective concrete homes. Those people need to be heard. They need to feel that they have a voice. They feel that they do not have a voice and that they are not being listened to. It is bad enough having a disability, but imagine having a disability and being stuck in a home that is crumbling around you. These people are not going to be able to afford to move. Their mental health is down the drain, and we are not talking about one, two or three people. I have had five, six, seven or eight people come into my office since the day I was elected, and I am representing them.

The Government needs to take this seriously. It needs to do a study on people with disabilities who are living in defective concrete homes, because they are not being treated properly. Their human rights are being violated. They have been violated for far too long. They have not been given the opportunity to be listened to. I plead with the Minister to start engaging with the families of people with disabilities who are living in defective concrete homes over the next few months.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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We are exhausted by the number of reports, reviews and investigations into the cost of disabilities for individuals. We had the Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities in 1996. We had Indecon's Report on the Cost of Disability in Ireland, which was published in 2021. We had a Green Paper on the cost of disability in 2023. We had an ESRI joint report with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in 2025, and we had another consultation in February of this year. We have been waiting over 30 years for a decision. I wonder whether a decision will ever be made or whether there will ever be a cost-of-disability payment for persons with disabilities. This extraordinary delay has left disabled persons with a totally inadequate standard of living.

The at-risk-of-poverty rate for persons with disabilities is 24%, more than two and half times the rate for the rest of the population. As the Minister knows well, the cost of disability is between 52% and 57% of a household's disposable income. The additional cost is estimated to be anything from €488 to €555 per week. On top of that, Ireland has one of the lowest rates of disability employment in Europe. There are huge barriers to employment for people with disabilities, including a lack of personal assistants, a lack of equipment such as electric wheelchairs and a lack of personalised budgets. The fear of the loss of benefits is another huge barrier to employment. Those losses could include the loss of a medical card, the loss of the fuel allowance, the complete loss of or a reduction in a person's disability payment or the loss of the free travel card.

In other EU countries, disabled people do not lose disability entitlements when they work. The biggest fear about and barrier to working is the loss of the medical card. Medical need should decide an entitlement to a medical card as opposed to someone's income. Because of the limited nature of income disregards, people with disabilities, if they work at all, tend to do so in low-paid or part-time employment.

In relation to approval for disability allowance, the strict means testing and cliff-edge nature of the limits exclude many persons who would otherwise qualify for payment. Persons applying for allowance are often means-tested against their spouse's or partner's income, which is very problematic. Thousands of applicants are refused on initial application, with 43% of cases, or almost one in every two, overturned on appeal. The cost of means testing should be assessed, and consideration must be given to a move to universal payments.

Housing is another cause of huge difficulty for people with disabilities. Many continue to live at home with their parents. Parents often are carers and care into their 70s, 80s and 90s. There are 2,065 adults with disabilities who are living with parents who are over the age of 70. Five hundred of these people live with parents who are over 80 years of age.

Of course, the cost-of-living crisis has severely impacted people with disabilities. It is literally a case of heating or eating or charging an electric wheelchair or eating. The cost of home heating oil has gone through the roof, with no reduction whatsoever on offer. A significant number of people with disabilities are among the 317,000 families who in arrears on their electricity bills and the 185,000 families who are in arrears on their gas bills.

The cost of food has spiralled out of control in recent years. Over the past five years, milk is up 43%, butter is up 42%, cheese is up 28%, diced beef is up 48%, chicken is up 33%, beef is up 32% and lamb is up 52%. On top of all that, the Government withdrew all cost-of-living supports in budget 2026, hitting workers, families and people with disabilities very hard. Families are being put to the pin of their collar to make ends meet. They cannot wait for next year's budget. They are in trouble now and they need help now. We need an emergency budget and a range of supports for families and people with disabilities. That must include a lump sum of at least €500. The money is available. The Minister knows that. The budget surplus this year will be €9.2 billion. Two or three weeks ago, the Government stated that the surplus will increase from €5 billion to €9.2 billion. I ask the Government to bring in an emergency budget and to do the right thing.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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There is a significant cost to having a disability. We all know that. We do not need any more reports, consultations or reviews. This is very clear. The cost involved is in the region of an additional €1,500 per year. The Indecon report of 2021 clearly outlined the cost of disability. That report was commissioned by the Government. In light of inflation, we know that the cost has risen significantly. The cost of energy, for example, for people with disabilities is significant. Many people with disabilities are immobile and feel the cold. The cost-of-living and cost-of-fuel crises have hit people with disabilities in a significant way in the context of the cost of assistive technologies, healthcare, medicine, housing adaption supports, mobility and transport. I know many people in Mayo whose main mode of transport is specialised taxis. In rural Ireland, it is an extraordinarily expensive endeavour to get around, socialise and engage with services. We all know people with disabilities. I recently spoke to a wonderful mother whose child has a disability. That mother is afraid to die. She is afraid to die because of the lack of supports for her adult child. It would break your heart to hear a woman in her senior years coming to my clinic and saying that she is afraid to die and asking what supports, including in the context of housing, are available. It is quite devastating.

Let us look at Government policy, campaigning, rhetoric and the promises made to people with disabilities most recent general election campaign. It must be stated that, to date, those promises have been broken. The programme for Government contains a commitment in respect of the introduction of a permanent payment for disability supports. We do not need to issue more reports or commence any new consultations. We all know that the cost of disability is significant and that it must be prioritised. The Government cannot wait until the next general election and then campaign on the same basis that it did in the most recent one. Promises must mean something. They must be delivered upon. The truth is that budget 2026 was described by the Disability Federation of Ireland as a "devastating setback". You would not have thought that would be the case in the context of a budget produced by the politicians who campaigned very hard on this topic. The Disability Federation of Ireland said that because people with disabilities were in the region of €1,200 less well off after the budget than they were beforehand. The Government removed all the one-off supports and did not replace them with any significant supports. I ask the Minister to ensure that the Government comes good on its promises this time.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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People with disabilities face additional rising costs and are struggling in light of reduced supports. The Government provided one-off cost-of-disability supports in the aftermath of Covid-19. In budget 2026, all of those were removed and nothing else was put in place. At least one in four people with disabilities is at risk of poverty. That is a terrible statistic. Previously, I have referenced that the cost of living with a disability might average up to €15,000 per year in the current economic climate. That is way beyond what the current supports cover. While the overall increase of the €10 was welcome, many people have seen their income fall in real terms since the budget. Removing the living alone allowance, the disability support grants, electricity credits and the October double payment has hit hard. We then have all the additional energy and fuel-related cost-of-living increases that people are having to cope with thanks to international events. Rents have also increased.

The cost of disability is reflected in the unavoidable extra spending that disabled people face every day, including in respect of mobility aids, transport, communication supports, care medicines, equipment and adapted appliances. As stated on previous occasions, many disabled passengers rely on taxis because they cannot drive or afford an adapted car or cannot depend on public transport that is either inaccessible or unreliable. Even the BusConnects changes can make journeys harder. Two wheelchair users often cannot travel together because older buses lack adequate space to accommodate them. That is a whole load of extra costs and hidden discrimination.

The Government's commitment to a permanent cost-of-disability payment is set out in the programme for Government. According to the Minister, the Government is looking at that this year. I hope it will be substantial rather than a case of kicking the can down the road. In that context, I support a once-off payment in light of the ongoing pressures relating to fuel, energy and inflation. The cost of living hits disabled people the hardest. Long-term supports are urgently needed. What sort of society are we if we do not protect our most vulnerable?

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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The cost of living for people with disabilities has been highlighted across the Chamber. If we start off with disabilities and things we could have done even before we reached this point and which were asked for, Maurice Noonan, who is from Granagh, and his partner were here last year. They are both wheelchair users. They were here in the Chamber. Mr. Noonan told me about simple things that he lost out on in childhood. He is 25 years old; the same age as my son. He missed 18th and 21st birthdays as a result of the fact that he could not get into any of the places in which they were being held because they did not have wheelchair-accessible toilets. That is still the case in pubs and other places that people go to in order to socialise. It is still the case because there was no incentive or grant aid offered by the Government to make sure that businesses installed disabled toilets. No matter how small or big a business is, it should have the facilities for everyone. Simple things like that prevented Mr. Noonan from going to 18th and 21st birthdays or even from going out with his friends.

Something that struck me is the fact that people who have outgrown their equipment have to hand it back. It is then kept in a warehouse and those responsible for it are not allowed to give it back out. Individuals have offered to look at, for example, a wheelchair or whatever to check that it is okay. People have outgrown their wheelchairs, which have been left sitting in warehouses. There are children who are looking for bigger wheelchairs but who cannot be given the ones to which I refer. Under the system that is in place, people have to wait two years for equipment that is sitting in warehouses. That equipment is perfect, but they are not allowed to have it.

That does not make sense, and now we have the cost-of-living crisis on top of it.

Everything has become so expensive. People with disabilities should be treated as equals but they are not. Everything comes second and third. If people were put in that situation, they would have a different outlook on life. If a person could not see or hear, would they not have a different outlook? Because we do not have that, we do not see it. The Government should look at simplifying different things for people with different disabilities, to make things easier in the interim for them until they get what they need. The one thing that struck me was Maurice stating that he could not go to an ATM or to a 21st birthday party. He would often go into places and be told that the disabled toilets were up three steps. People simply do not think of the basics. If we cannot get the basics right, and now we have a cost-of-living crisis to get right, what hope does anyone have if we cannot see that? I ask the Minister of State to take a common-sense approach and simplify things. It is not actually that hard.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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Let us stop pretending that we do not understand the problem. The Government has had evidence for decades now, but what has changed for people with disabilities? The answer is very little, and the proof of the failure in this regard lies in the figures. Disabled people are far more likely to be living in poverty, not slightly more but multiple times more. We are talking about poverty rates of over 30% in some cases when disability costs are taken into account. We are talking about consistent poverty rates four times the national average. We are talking about people spending over half their income, and in some cases, up to 93%, just on the cost of disability. After all of that, there is no proper system in place to address it. That is not a gap; it is a failure.

Failure number one is delay. Instead of acting on the evidence, the Government has launched yet another consultation process. People do not need to be consulted again about whether they are struggling. They are telling the Government that they are.

Failure number two was cutting supports in budget 2026. The Government removed cost-of-living payments which are worth around €1,400 a year to disabled people. While costs remain constant and unavoidable, supports are taken away. That is not reform; it is regression.

Failure number three is relying on once-off measures. Disabled people are saying clearly that this is not a temporary crisis. There is permanent pressure from a cost-of-living perspective, so why is the Government still treating it like a once-off emergency? A once-off payment might help for a week, but it does not fix a lifelong cost.

It is the Government's whole approach to people with disabilities that I would like to talk about. It is not just this issue alone. The Government has been talking about the means test for a long time, but it is still means testing carers. These are people who are giving their whole lives over to minding loved ones in their homes.

Another matter, which I raised earlier today and which affects many people with disabilities is the summer programme or the July provision for children with special needs. For this year's programme, schools were given just one week's notice. Usually, they are given three to four months notice in order that they can be prepared and get their applications for funding in, which they will hopefully get. This year, they were only given one week to apply, which was extremely late on the part of the Department. As a result, many schools missed the deadline through no fault their own. Earlier, I called for a debate on the matter of providing an extension in order to ensure that no child will be left out.

I was at the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork the other night where about 500 people from the Before We Die group attended a meeting. People spoke about those with intellectual disabilities. Those at the meeting are extremely frustrated with the inability of successive Governments to understand the crisis people are in. Some 78% have no formal housing, which means that parents do not know where their children are going to go when they die. Some 48% of carers are over 60, 14% are aged over 70 and 2% are aged over 80. Some 92% of adults with an intellectual disability still rely on their parents. There is a major crisis out there, and these parents need to know what is going to happen. By God, as I say the other night, they have massive backing.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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Beidh mé ag tabhairt tacaíochta don rún seo agus tá áthas orm an deis a fháil labhairt ar an topaic fhíorthábhachtach seo.  Beidh mé ag tacú leis an rún seo mar cuireann sé na deacrachtaí atá ag daoine atá faoi mhíchumas os ár gcomhair go soiléir. Tá sé ríthábhachtach go bhfuil rún mar seo againn arís mar bhí topaicí mar seo os ár gcomhair cheana.

I am happy to get the opportunity again to speak on this very important issue. When it comes to disabilities, we keep saying the same thing over and over again. I taught many children with special needs during the ten or 12 years I taught in schools. I observed at first hand the level of frustration and of desperation at times that exists among parents and even among class teachers who are trying to access adequate supports for children in terms of ensuring that they reach their full potential, which was laid out as a vision in the Education Act 1988. Every child must be enabled to reach their potential. How can they do so if they are not supported?

I am very concerned about this matter. I would go as far as saying at this point that children with special needs in Offaly and Laois are being neglected because of the lack of access to therapy. This has gone on and on. When I was elected in 2016, one of the first issues I raised here was the lack of speech therapists, occupational therapists, dieticians and psychologists. It is becoming a major issue. Lately, this was confirmed to me very clearly when I dealt with a case where a young child had been referred at a primary care team meeting in December 2023 to a dietician and an occupational therapist. Because those vacancies have not been filled, there is a problem and that child still has not had access. That was nearly three years ago, and there is no doubt but that the child has regressed. If that is not a prime example of neglect, I do not know what is. There has to be a change of direction. I have stated time and again that Offaly and Laois are among the worst counties in the State in terms of there being no therapists and vacancies not being filled. I cannot for the life of me understand why therapists from the other CHO areas where there is not a backlog cannot be brought in, along with private therapists, to clear the backlog in Offaly and Laois.

We are hearing about recruitment all the time from the HSE, but this sorry saga has gone on too long. I know of children who have not received speech therapy and who have regressed considerably. How are such children going to reach their educational potential? It is not fair, and it is leading to a lot of distress for children and parents. It is causing huge stress for them because they are frustrated, and rightly so. School principals and teachers are frustrated, and we are all seeing it time and again. The mess in Offaly and Laois needs to be sorted out. I call here once again for emergency action solutions, which I have outlined, to be put in place. Therapists should be brought in from CHO areas where the list is not as long and private therapists also to clear the backlog. I would hope that those solutions in the short term could be taken on board, because children are being failed and are being left behind by the ordeal in Offaly and Laois.

I want to given another example of failure and a lack of planning and efficiency. Last week, it was brought to my attention that the portal that deals with SNA applications was not open for one particular school in Offaly to allow it to make its application for September. Bearing in mind that the schools will be all closing in June, it is grossly unfair on the school in question and on the particular child with special needs. That child and their parents do not know if they are going to have an SNA for September, which is very unfair. It is not giving anyone a chance really. I hope that this can be resolved. I have written to the Department of education and I await its response. I do hope that timely action will be taken to sort that out. That is a basic thing; a portal not being open for a school to make an application for an SNA should not be happening in this day and age. If there is a shortage of staff in the Department, people should be taken from some other Department. Practical actions need to be taken with a common-sense approach that goes back to basics and clears the problems. That is what I am recommending we do here tonight.

We have debated other issues such shortages in respite care, inadequate home supports, therapy waiting lists and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities time and again.

In February and March last year and in contributions before that, the same pleas were made. Families are worn out from fighting for basic but vital services that really should be automatic. They tell me all the time in my constituency office that they really are battling. Every day is a battle for them. It could be trying to access basic supports for school transport and then trying to make sure that their child is catered for. Our Education Act talks about the importance of collaboration, working with people and making sure that inclusion is a top priority, but we are not seeing it. We are not seeing joined-up thinking; it is very disjointed. The services all need to work in tandem together, particularly with schools. Children are definitely regressing without timely occupational therapy or speech and language support.

It is important that we mention carers because they save the State billions of euro every year. They do not get fair play because when it comes to respite, it can be very difficult for them to take time off. That issue also needs to be looked at. We also need to look at the home helps who support our elderly people in their homes. If a home help takes time off, as they are entitled to, there needs to be a replacement person immediately. We have to make sure that people with disabilities, our most vulnerable in society, are being looked after. No doubt the Government will point to its National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. It states:

At all stages, the views and opinions of disabled persons, their organisations, and other relevant stakeholders will be central to delivery, and we are committed to building their capacity where needed to support them in providing this strong voice.

However, to the families on the ground, this reads as little more than hollow rhetoric because they are not seeing that in their lives every day when they have to cope with things they should not have to deal with, when they have to battle and fight for access to basic therapies or when they have to battle for SNAs with the school principal. It is just not happening.

Where is the real meaningful action? Where is the urgency? Where is the accountability when respite places remain chronically underfunded in rural counties like Offaly? The strategy speaks of central involvement yet families tell me that they feel sidelined and that their experience is reduced to consultation checkboxes rather than driving real and meaningful change. People have had enough of tokenism and box ticking, which people use for self-preservation or whatever it is for. We need to see meaningful and genuine change. We need to go back to basics and put short-term solutions in place until we can devise more long-term sustainable solutions. We cannot keep kicking the issues concerning disabled people down the road with strategies and plans while people, particularly children, suffer.

We need to move from the déjà vudebates that we have had here over and over again - it is like Groundhog Day at times here - to actual delivery. People need to have confidence that the Government is delivering for people with disabilities but we are not seeing it. Unfortunately, it is not there. Obviously, we need adequate funding to be delivered, if necessary through an emergency funding package such as the motion suggests. However, I suggest that we take short-term actions and put therapists in place in Offaly and Laois as soon as possible.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputies for their contributions to this important debate. The Government is well aware of the additional costs faced by disabled people. The Government has opposed this motion and tabled an amendment, but that does not mean that we do not recognise the difficulties and additional costs that disabled people face. We are very aware of those costs. Our determination to assist people with those costs is reflected in the improvements we have made to disability support schemes in recent years and our commitment to further improvements.

As the Minister, Deputy Calleary, explained earlier and as outlined in the programme for Government, we are committed to introducing a permanent annual cost-of-disability-support payment and we will do that. The huge response to the public consultation process, the discussions at the recent strategic focus network summit on the cost of disability and the relevant research will all feed into the development of that payment.

Regarding heating and energy costs, I stress that the community welfare service is available to provide financial support for these essentials when people need it. The additional needs payment and the heat supplement exist for precisely this purpose.

Our commitment to introducing an annual cost-of-disability-support payment is incredibly important, but it is just one piece of the jigsaw. We know that payment cannot solve everything. The availability and accessibility of services and other supports are also key. That is why the cross-departmental nature of the national human rights strategy for disabled people and the summit in particular are so important.

We have committed to reforming the disability allowance payment and removing anomalies in the current means test for the payment. As I am sure Deputies know, the Department of Social Protection is conducting a review of means testing across its schemes. Any future changes will be guided by the outcome of that review. We are committed to progressively increasing weekly disability payments. We have been doing this, including in the most recent budget where we have increased the personal rates, as well as the rates for qualified adults, and the child support payment.

The issues facing disabled people cut across Government and 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 key pillars, including employment. The Department of Social Protection is the joint lead on the employment pillar together with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.

We all know that many disabled people face barriers in the workplace and when looking for employment. The Government wants to address those barriers. The Department of Social Protection, through its nationwide network of Intreo centres, provides employment services for jobseekers. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, these mainstream services are available to disabled people. The Department also offers tailored supports. EmployAbility offers specialist employment services to people with disabilities. It can help people find work through its 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. Training initiatives are being promoted to raise awareness and understanding of disabilities among Intreo staff.

In July 2022, the Department of Social Protection launched early engagement. This scheme proactively invites people to talk about their employment ambitions with Intreo and then helps them achieve their goals through the Department’s employment and training supports. Taking part is completely voluntary.

In December 2023, a new employment programme under the new European Social Fund Plus funding was announced. WorkAbility: Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme aims to support up to 13,000 disabled people in progressing their training and employment ambitions through 57 local, regional and national organisations. The programme runs from January 2024 to December 2028. The experience to date has been very positive. The Department of Social Protection also provides funding for AHEAD’s GetAHEAD and Willing Able Mentoring programmes to help people with disabilities transition from education to work. GetAHEAD works to upskill graduates with disabilities with information sessions and training events. Willing Able Mentoring provides mentored and paid work placements for graduates with disabilities. The Government has committed to expanding and building on successful programmes like WorkAbility, EmployAbility and the new work and access programme to support people with disabilities into employment.

Budget 2026 provided for an expansion of the wage subsidy scheme and an increase in the payment rates. These positive measures build on other recent improvements to the schemes such as the reduction in the number of hours from 21 to 15.

There are already arrangements in place whereby when a former disability allowance customer’s employment ceases or their hours significantly reduce within 12 months of the termination of their disability allowance, it is open to that person to contact the Department to have their disability allowance payment reinstated without the need to make a new application. These requests are read within 48 hours of receipt and fast-tracked back into payment from there.

We are committed to further improving the position in this regard.

We are also extending the back to work family dividend to people with children who are moving off disability allowance or blind pension into employment. This will help ease that transition over a two-year period. We will also work with employers and across government to improve employment of disabled people. Employment is hugely beneficial for people, but we know that there are costs associated with going to work. This was one of the clear messages at the recent summit.

Secondary benefits are of great support in assisting people with additional costs. Fear of losing secondary benefits can be a significant concern for people when they are considering taking up or increasing their employment. That is why it was important for us to introduce measures whereby recipients of disability allowance or blind pension would be able retain their fuel allowance payments for up to five years on moving into employment. There are already arrangements in place for the retention of certain secondary benefits when a person moves off a disability payment into employment.

A person can retain their eligibility for the free travel pass for five years if they move from one of the following disability payments into work: disability allowance; invalidity pension; partial capacity benefit from invalidity pension; or disablement benefit, when paid along with an incapacity supplement. In addition, a person who had 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.

In the work we are doing now on the cost of disability, it is important to remember that we are building on the supports already available and the improvements that have been made to same, particularly in recent years. The Government is also committed to introducing a permanent cost-of-disability support payment. We will do that. It is important to emphasise that the Government remains fully committed to continuing its consultation and close engagement with disabled people, disability representative groups and other stakeholders.

I thank the Deputies who tabled this motion and all the Deputies who have contributed on it. While we are tabling an amendment, it does not mean that we do not recognise the difficulties and additional costs that disabled people face.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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No person should be left socially, politically or economically worse off because of a disability. I think all of us in this House would agree on that in principle. Where the problem lies, however, is that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have their heads in the clouds. The estimated additional cost to a household in which a person with a disability lives stands at €555 per week. Worse again is that, rather than improving the situation, the Government’s budget last October actually made the situation worse. Despite a cost-of-living crisis continuing unabated, the Government chose to withdraw supports for people with disabilities to the tune of €1,400. It is simply not good enough to tell people that they have to wait for budget 2027 or beyond. It is a failure to recognise the current pressures that people are facing. What are people with disabilities to do?

It was an error of judgment when the Government pulled supports last year. This motion recognises the lived reality of people with disabilities. It mandates urgent intervention through a lump sum of €500 for people with disabilities and a permanent intervention through a new cost-of-disability payment to be introduced immediately, rather than at the next budget or later. It is a disgrace for the Government to say that.

Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and their Independent supporters have a choice now. Do they agree that these interventions are necessary or do they think that people with disabilities should wait until budget 2027 or beyond before the Government responds and actually does something? The previous Government carried out a report on this five years ago. Surely, it has had enough time to decide what to do. We cannot listen to any more excuses, nor can people with disabilities.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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This motion goes to the heart of dignity, equality and basic fairness because the reality is that disabled people in Ireland are carrying a cost that is relentless and deeply unjust. As the Clare Leader Forum said:

Disabled People are under sustained financial pressure. These pressures are not confined to one area of life. They arise across transport, housing, employment, independent living, energy, communications, social participation and personal assistance. The Cost of Disability is not marginal, occasional or discretionary. It is structural, ongoing and unavoidable.

That is why the Government’s amendment misses the point entirely. It means that the Government is not listening. The cost of disability is not about extras, luxuries or optional spending. It is about what it simply costs to be able to live and participate in society and have independence and dignity.

According to the Disability Federation of Ireland, 39% of people unable to work due to disability face enforced deprivation. Think about that. That is nearly four in ten people, yet the Government’s amendment does not even mention deprivation or poverty. By refusing to name these realities, it is enforcing what so many disabled people already feel, that is, that they are not listened to, their struggles are invisible and they do not matter. They do matter, however, and the lived realities behind these statistics are stark. People with disabilities are reporting having to visit food banks. Families are forced into impossible choices between whether to run essential life-saving equipment, keep the heating on or eat. It is always about choosing one essential over the other. No one should be forced to continuously make those decisions. No one should have to ration their independence because the Government refuses to recognise the true cost of disability.

Disabilities do not wait for people to afford them. The wheelchair battery still needs charging. Transport costs still need to be paid. The personal assistance hours are still needed. Extra heating, therapies, equipment, rent and food are not optional costs that can be parked for better times. People with disabilities need help now. They deserve to be heard, respected and given the means not just to survive, but to live with dignity.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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Last year’s budget was an opportunity to ease cost pressures on people with disabilities, but instead of providing them with support, the Government chose to abandon them and withdraw payments, which meant that they were worse off by €1,400. The Government has ignored the pleas from people with disabilities who told it they were having to make the most difficult of decisions, such as having to choose between heating and eating. Once again, people with disabilities have been told to wait. Altogether, there have been four major reviews and reports on the cost of disability, and another consultation was launched in February.

Disabled people face significant additional and unavoidable costs every single day. It is estimated that they face weekly additional costs of between €488 and €555 on average. These costs include higher electricity and heating bills as well as the cost of equipment, transport, personal assistance, assistive technology and everyday adaptions that they need to simply live, work, study and participate in our communities. They have not been supported and they have suffered as a result of rising costs in energy, housing and transport in addition to the increased costs associated with their disabilities. In the words of one person who contacted me:

These extra costs are not lifestyle choices. They are not luxuries. They are the price of survival and participation in a society that is still not fully accessible for me.

This reality is why we have brought this motion forward tonight. The Government’s amendment to our motion demonstrates just how out of touch it is with the lived realities that people with disabilities face. It is telling people with disabilities to try to hold on until the next budget and next year when a cost-of-disability payment might be introduced. How is that going to give any person with a disability any comfort when their bills keep coming in? People need support now. Supporting people with disabilities is one of the most fundamental things that we must do as a society. I urge the Government to finally recognise the cost of disability and provide adequate financial support. No more reports and delays. There must be an emergency payment in advance of a permanent cost-of-disability payment being introduced in the next budget to help meet the real additional costs faced every day by people with disabilities.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State said in his contribution that one payment would not resolve anything but if you have not got any money to pay for a taxi and you need to get to an appointment, a payment makes all the difference. What we have spoken about this evening is the money people with disabilities need to live. One payment makes a difference. A more permanent payment would absolutely make a difference but if he was listening to people with disabilities, the Minister of State would understand they were struggling right now. When you are in an emergency - these are people who face an emergency every single day - one payment makes a difference. That is what people are asking for. They have an emergency now. They do not have enough money to live now. They need an emergency payment now.

Nobody has said there is not a cost to disability. The Minister of State knows that there is, that the Government took €1,400 a year from people with disabilities last year, that the cost of living is rising and that this is impacting people with disabilities disproportionately. All of this he knows, and even if he did not, there is report after report that would tell him. This consultation process is dragging it out, people are being made to wait and they are being told that it is not sustainable to give them an in-cash payment now, but it is not sustainable to ask people to make those horrible choices between heating, eating and charging mobility devices. People with disabilities are used to being fobbed off and ignored but, by Jesus, they were gaslit this evening. The Minister of State should reflect on that. Do not come in here and tell people that there is not an emergency or that he thinks they can wait. They cannot wait. We do not get endless hours of speaking time in this Chamber. We use our time really carefully because we only get one chance a week. We are standing up for people with disabilities. The Minister of State is not listening and the Government is not listening. People with disabilities cannot wait. It is cruel that the Government is ignoring them.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 27 May 2026.