Written answers

Thursday, 3 February 2022

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Departmental Strategies

Photo of Pauline TullyPauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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198. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group has met since the publication of a report (details supplied) to consider its findings and conclusions; if so, his plans to act on the findings and conclusions of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5357/22]

Photo of Roderic O'GormanRoderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Cost of Disability in Ireland report was commissioned by the Minister for Social Protection and prepared by Indecon International Research Economists. It was published in December 2021. It provides important evidence of the additional costs that people with a disability face in their day-to-day lives. The Cost of Disability in Ireland report was considered by the NDISSG in December 2021, within 24 hours of publication.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to use research into the cost of disability to properly inform the direction of future policy. As the evidence in the Cost of Disability in Ireland report has implications for many areas of public policy, a whole-of-government approach is required to develop appropriate and timely responses and to ensure that everyday costs are reduced for people with disabilities and their families.

For this reason, the coordination of this whole-of-government response is being carried out under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS). The NDIS is one of two national policy frameworks through which the rights of people with disabilities in Ireland are progressively realised. In addition to advancing key actions under the NDIS, my Department supports the implementation and monitoring of the NDIS by coordinating the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group (NDISSG). The Group is chaired by my colleague Minister Anne Rabbitte T.D., and is attended by representatives of Departments, Agencies and the Disability Stakeholder Group.

At the next NDISSG, which will take place in March, the Group will discuss the approaches to be adopted to act on the findings and conclusions of the report. The Group will examine meaningful action to reduce day to day costs for people with disabilities in Ireland. Aligning the findings and recommendations of the Cost of Disability in Ireland report to the NDIS will ensure that recommendations can be properly considered at whole of government level and that progress against actions taken will be monitored by the NDISSG and the Disability Stakeholder Group.

In addition to this approach to future policymaking, the government has taken action in Budget 2022 to respond to the additional costs faced by people with disabilities. Measures include:

- A €5 increase in maximum rate of all core weekly payments including people with disabilities and carers, with proportionate increases for qualified adults, with effect from January.

- A €3 increase for qualified child dependants aged 12 and over and €2 for those up to age 12, in all core weekly payments.

- An increase in the general weekly means disregard for Disability Allowance from €2.50 to €7.60 per week.

- A €25 per week increase to the upper earnings disregard for Disability Allowance and Blind pension from €350 to €375.

- An increase to the Wage Subsidy paid to employers who employ people with a disability from €5.30 to €6.30 an hour, thereby encouraging more employers to employ people with a disability.

- An increase in the Capital/Savings disregard for Carer’s Allowance from €20,000 to €50,000

- An increase in the weekly income disregard for Carer’s Allowance to €350 a week for single carers and to €750 for carers with a spouse/partner.

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