Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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110. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will provide details on any specific cross-departmental mechanisms in place to ensure that the lived experience of people with disabilities, as highlighted during the Social Inclusion Forum and related consultations, is reflected in the design and implementation of the next roadmap for social inclusion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33151/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025 is a whole of Government strategy with the ambitious aim of reducing consistent poverty to 2 per cent or less and to make Ireland one of the most socially inclusive member states in the EU. The Roadmap was published in January 2020 and contains seven high level goals, with 81 commitments. Goal five of the Roadmap is "Supporting People with Disabilities." This goal aims to improve social inclusion for people with disabilities by reducing poverty rates, improving employment outcomes and delivering better services. It draws on work across Government Departments to achieve this ambition, including implementation of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy and Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities, and recommendations in the Make Work Pay and Cost of Disability reports. Since the publication of the Roadmap in 2020, consistent poverty for people unable to work due to permanent sickness/disability has reduced from 21.3% in 2018 to 19% in 2024. Additionally, at an EU level the at-risk-of-poverty-or-social-exclusion rate for people with disabilities has reduced from 38.2% in 2018 to 30.1% in 2024. While these are higher than other groups, I welcome the progress made to date, and note that the 2024 data is based on 2023 incomes, therefore not taking account of Budget 2024 or Budget 2025 measures.One of the key approaches for reducing consistent poverty is to support those who can work into employment, whether that be part time or full time employment. With this in mind, we have seen the employment rate for people with disabilities increase to 53.3% as reported in Census 2022. While recognising that questions on disability changed in Census 2022, this compares with 36.5% reported in Census 2016.Work has commenced in my Department on the development of the successor to the Roadmap for Social Inclusion. A public consultation on the development of the successor strategy was launched in April and remains open until the end of June. I want to hear the views of all interested parties, including from people with disabilities and the organisations representing them. I very much welcome all comments, ideas and suggestions on how to improve social inclusion and reduce poverty for those most impacted.Discussions on the development of the new strategy also took place at the 2025 Social Inclusion Forum, which took place in 8 May. It was attended by people experiencing poverty/social exclusion and representative organisations, including people with disabilities. It included five workshops on key areas, including supporting people with disabilities, with facilitators from the community and voluntary sector, and presentations from expert practitioners.These discussions will also feed into the development of the new strategy. My Department will also prepare and publish a conference report, which will encapsulate the breadth of the discussions and contributions throughout the day. This report will be published and circulated to other Government Departments to inform their contributions to the new strategy. Government is fully committed to ensuring that no-one in Ireland is left behind, and with this in mind it is my intention to publish the new strategy in the first half of 2026.