Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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153. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to review the disability payment scheme and establish a cost of disability payment to alleviate the financial burden placed on a disabled person's cost of living; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28833/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The primary objectives of the illness and disability payments administered by my Department are to provide income support; promote social inclusion and provide supports to work.

The various illness and disability payments provide income support for people, and their dependants, who cannot earn a living because of sickness and/or disability. These schemes also provide a range of supports to encourage and assist people on long-term illness and disability payments to identify and take up available employment, training, educational and other self-development opportunities, where appropriate. The objectives also make a significant contribution to the broader social inclusion goal through the provision of income support and support to work.

My Department continually keeps its main disability payment schemes such as the Invalidity Pension and the Disability Allowance under review to ensure that they continue to meet these high-level objectives.

It is not the function of the income support system to address the additional costs associated with a disability. Accordingly, I have no plans to establish a cost of disability payment within the social protection system. In any event, people with disabilities are not a homogeneous group and as such would have widely differing needs with the result that the extra costs of disability would not therefore arise to the same extent in all cases. There is no single comprehensive payment available in respect of the additional costs of disability. However, some of these are addressed across schemes provided by a number of agencies such as the health service and also the Revenue Commissioners through certain tax reliefs and other supports.

I hope that clarifies the matter for the Deputy.