Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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682. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department will consider introducing an emergency winter payment to offset the extra cost of disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61966/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government commits to introducing a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment. Our Programme for Government commitments will be advanced over the lifetime of the Government, having regard to the overall policy and budgetary context.

In Budget 2026, I provided for a €1.15 billion package of new social protection measures.

Government has been very clear that there would be no once-off measures in this year’s Budget. We are at the start of a five-year programme for Government and not everything can be done in year one.

However, the Budget package contained significant targeted measures to support disabled people. These measures include:

• a €10 increase in the weekly rates of payment, bringing the personal rates of payment to €254 per week from January.
• A Christmas bonus double payment to all persons getting a long-term disability payment, to be paid in December 2025.
• A €20 increase in the rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance bringing the rate to €380 per month.
• A €5 increase in the Fuel Allowance, bringing it to €38 per week from January 2026.
• People moving from Disability Allowance or Blind Pension to take up work will be able to retain their Fuel Allowance payment for five years. The Back toWork Family Dividend is also being extended to this group, where they have children.
• From January, extending the Wage Subsidy Scheme to people who acquire a disability while in employment and increasing the rates paid from April.
• Increase the Earnings Disregard for Carer’s Allowance by €375 to €1,000 for a single person and by €750 to €2,000 for a couple from July 2026. The income limit for Carer’s Benefit will also increase by €375 to €1,000 per week from July 2026.

I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.