Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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726. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the forthcoming national disability strategy will include specific actions and measurable targets to address the extra living costs faced by disabled individuals, as identified in the Cost of Disability in Ireland report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32553/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Government recognises the extra living costs experienced by people with disabilities and the ways in which these costs can negatively impact the lives of disabled people and their families, often leading to an increased risk of poverty and financial insecurity.

The Cost of Disability in Ireland report (2021), commissioned by the Minister for Social Protection and prepared by Indecon International Research Economists, provides important evidence of the additional costs that people with a disability face in their daily lives.

While measures and initiatives aimed at poverty reduction and social protection are the primary responsibility of the Department of Social Protection, reducing the cost of disability is also a cross-cutting objective that affects different policy areas and therefore requires a whole-of-government response. That is why my Department is leading on the development of the next National Disability Strategy, which will operate as a framework for the coordination of disability policy and action across government, with a significant emphasis on collaboration and problem solving on cross-cutting issues, such as the cost of disability.

The next National Disability Strategy will adopt a whole-of government approach to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). As a means of improving the standard of living of disabled people, targeted actions increasing the provision of supports in relation to education, further education, training and employment, healthcare and housing will be important features of the Strategy.

My Department is working with the National Disability Authority to develop a human rights-based monitoring framework for the strategy. We will together identify and track indicators which will show the progress being made under the strategy. This will allow us to track outcomes over the lifetime of the strategy to understand how the actions under the Strategy are making a real difference to disabled people, including as related to issues such as the cost of disability.The Strategy is now at an advanced stage of development and publication is expected in early course.