Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to inform Senators that I have already committed to a wide-ranging review of means-testing in my Department, which is ongoing. I expect that to be completed in quarter 1 of next year and I hope to have it early next year. The review will cover the treatment of income and disregards across the social welfare schemes generally. It will include the examination of thresholds and their impact, the blind pension and the disability allowance, including in respect of self-employed workers. For those reasons, I do not propose to accept this amendment but Senators can be assured, in line with a similar commitment I gave in the Dáil debate, that this issue will be considered in that review, which will be published early in the new year.