Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context

712. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he is aware that while the Government has spoken about sustainable increases and restraint, the reality is that disabled persons are facing a real and substantial loss of income compared with 2025 (details supplied); if he will commit to introducing an emergency winter payment to offset the extra cost of disability, and bring forward a cost of disability payment without further delay; if he will ensure the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Finance deliver fair, adequate supports that reflect the real costs people with disabilities face; and if his Department will conduct a review of how Budget 2026 will impact disabled households over the winter months, when fuel and living costs peak; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63133/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Government recognises the significant additional costs that disabled people can face in their daily lives and is committed improving outcomes for disabled people by introducing permanent measures.

That is why the Programme for Government includes a range of commitments to support disabled people. 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, my Department's Budget 2026 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.
• The highest ever increases in the Child Support Payment – an increase of €16 to €78 for children aged 12 or over, and of €8 to €58 for children under 12.
• A €5 increase in the Fuel Allowance, bring 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.
• People getting Disability Allowance or Blind Pension who have children will be eligible for Back to Work Family Dividend when taking up employment and moving off those payments.
• Expansion of the Wage Subsidy Scheme to people who acquire a disability while in employment and to those who transfer from Invalidity Pension to Partial Capacity Benefit, 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 increase by €375 to €1,000 per week from July 2026.
• €20 increase in the monthly Domiciliary Care Allowance payment bringing the payment to €380 per month from January.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context

713. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if it is consistent with national policy to cut off disability allowance payments to persons on the basis of their partners' income, given this has the result of creating a state of poverty for the household (details supplied). [63197/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Disability Allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment for people with a disability who are aged between 16 and 66. In order to be eligible the disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the person must satisfy a habitual residency condition.

Social welfare legislation provides that for means-tested social assistance schemes, all income and assets belonging to the claimant, and his or her spouse or partner where applicable, are assessable for means-testing purposes. The purpose of the means test is to ensure that resources are directed to those with the greatest need for income supports by the State.

In a means test, the Department of Social Protection examines all sources of income and capital. To receive Disability Allowance, household income must be below a certain amount.

If a person’s spouse, civil partner or cohabitant works, their ‘net’ weekly earnings from work as an employee are assessed as follows:

• €20 per day, up to a maximum of €60, from work is deducted from their spouse, civil partner or cohabitant’s average net weekly earnings; and
• 60% of the balance is assessed as weekly means.

• €10 increase in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability payments from January 2026. There will be proportionate increases for people getting a reduced rate.
• Christmas bonus to all persons getting a long-term disability payment to be paid in December 2025.
• People moving from Disability Allowance or Blind Pension to take up work from September 2026 will keep their Fuel Allowance for 5 years.
• People getting Disability Allowance or Blind Pension will be eligible for Back to Work Family Dividend when taking up employment.
• Wage Subsidy Scheme extended to more people who acquire a disability.
• €1.20 increase in the Wage Subsidy Scheme base rate to €7.50 per hour and introducing a middle rate of €8.50 from April 2026.
• €5 increase in Fuel Allowance from €33 to €38 per week from January 2026. This will provide an additional €140 during the annual fuel allowance season.
• Weekly rates of Child Support Payment increased by €16 to €78 for children aged 12 or over, and by €8 to €58 for children under 12, from January 2026.
• The Government allocated €3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026, including funding for Community Based Specialist Disability Services to ensure people with disabilities receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place. This represents a 20% increase year on year and represents an overall increase since 2020 of €1.8 billion.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context

714. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether State and employer contributions towards the My Future Fund pension savings scheme will be reckonable as income for the purposes of determining eligibility for any other public services or schemes. [63244/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce the Automatic Enrolment (AE) Retirement Savings System. The aim of introducing AE is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and to provide workers with greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income. The new system - to be known as My Future Fund - will commence from 1st January 2026.

The Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) Regulations (2007) currently provide for a disregard of contributions to occupational pension schemes, statutory public sector pension schemes, PRSAs and additional voluntary contributions in the means assessment for a range of DSP income support schemes. Similarly, Section 227 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act (2005) (as amended) provides for the same disregard for the Working Family Payment while Part 4 of Schedule 3 of the Act set out the rules as to the calculation of means in respect of Rent Supplement.

It is envisaged that My Future Fund contributions will be disregarded in the same manner and they will not be assessed in determining eligibility for the schemes my Department provides. To this end, amendments to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act are being brought forward at Committee Stage for the Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025 so as to provide a disregard for AE contributions in respect of Rent Supplement and Working Family Payment. In the case of the other means tested social welfare schemes, these disregard of contributions are made in regulations and the parallel treatment for AE contributions will be provided for through amendments to the secondary legislation that underpin these rules.

I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context

715. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection his views that it is appropriate that officials in his Department infer lack of qualifying disability from blank sections of disability allowance paperwork; and if he has satisfied himself that the systems in place to determine eligibility for the allowance are sufficiently accommodating of transient and conditional manifestations of disability, which are medically well-recognised. [63267/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Disability Allowance is a weekly allowance paid to people with a specified disability who are aged 16 or over and under the age of 66. This disability must be expected to last for at least one year and the allowance is subject to a medical assessment, a means test and the habitual residency condition.

Assessments of medical eligibility for Disability Allowance are based on medical reports and all evidence supplied by the applicant and the applicant’s treating physician. In arriving at their decision on eligibility, a Deciding Officer will review all evidence available, including that provided by the applicant's own doctor. They will also have regard to the opinion of the Department’s medical assessor. The Department’s medical assessors are fully qualified medical practitioners who have experience and specialist training/qualifications in occupational medicine as well as in human disability evaluation.

The medical assessment processes for Disability Allowance is designed to evaluate a wide spectrum of medical conditions. The assessment is not merely based on the diagnosis alone, factors taken into account are the severity, duration, prognosis and functional impact in each individual case.

The medical assessment process involves comprehensive review of all submitted medical information for objective evidence of frequency and severity of exacerbations, the functional limitations during these periods, and the prognosis.

Where symptoms are transient and conditional, applicants may use the provided sections in the Disability Allowance application form (DA1) to describe the variability of their symptoms, explaining how often & for how long, these periods occur, and if required attach additional pages, where a section is left blank the medical assessor gleans this information from the overall evidence submitted.

The medical assessor will give due consideration to the cumulative effect of a fluctuating illness over time, the resulting impact on activities of daily living and capacity for work.

Medical opinions are based on the evidence at the time of application. If a person’s condition changes or deteriorates, they have the right to request a review of their case at any time.

I can confirm that the Department received an application for DA from the person concerned on 16 April 2025. They subsequently withdrew the claim on 22 April 2025. They then requested their claim be reopened on 19 August 2025 and additional information was sought by the Department. Based on the evidence supplied, the application was disallowed on the grounds that the medical qualifying condition was not satisfied.

The person concerned was notified in writing of this decision on 02 October 2025 and was given the right to request a review and/or appeal of this decision.

I can confirm on 28 October 2025, the person concerned submitted a request for an appeal of the decision to Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO).

The original decision was upheld and the appeal was disallowed by the SWAO. The person concerned was notified directly by the SWAO regarding their appeal on 31 October 2025.

An Appeals Officer’s decision is final and conclusive in absence of any fresh facts or evidence.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

716. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if his Department has prepared guidance for charities and non-profit organisations that are concerned their required contributions to autoenrollment pensions for their staff will place a financial burden that will lead to a reduction of services and staff layoffs; if specific guidance has been prepared; the advice he will offer to those organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63281/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce the Automatic Enrolment (AE) Retirement Savings System. The aim of introducing AE is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and to provide workers with greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income. The new system - to be known as My Future Fund - will commence from 1 January 2026. The implementation of My Future Fund will pave the way for around 750,000 workers to be brought into a retirement savings scheme for the first time and I look forward to its implementation.

My Department has been engaging with employers, including those in the community and voluntary sector, since the release of the AE 'strawman' public consultation in 2018. Its impending implementation has also been well-flagged since the enactment of the AE Act in 2024. Therefore, employers have been given a substantial lead-in period to budget appropriately for its introduction, including through budget negotiation with a sponsor where appropriate. Additionally, my Department has been proactive in advising other Departments, including the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation about this issue during 2025.

It is also worth mentioning that, in response to employer feedback, the design of the AE system provides for phasing in of the contribution rates over a decade. Employees will be required to make initial contributions of 1.5% of gross earnings, rising by 1.5 percentage points every three years until it reaches a maximum contribution rate of 6% in Year 10. These contributions will be matched on a ‘one-for-one’ basis by employer contributions, and 'topped-up' by the State at a rate of €1 for every €3 the employee contributes. This phased approach arose as a consequence of the consultation the Department undertook in the design of the system. For community and voluntary organisations (and employers more generally), this approach also gives very clear certainty as to the rates that will be applicable so as to facilitate the gradual absorption of these labour costs over time.

With regard to engagement with employers over the past 18 months, including those in the community and voluntary sector, we have hosted thousands of employers and related professionals through many webinars, conferences and in person stakeholder meetings, with more planned over the remainder of this year and into next. We are also implementing an extensive advertising campaign aimed specifically at employers and have made a wealth of information available through our AE hub at www.gov.ie/autoenrolment and brought this to the attention of all of the representative organisations.

I hope this clarifies matters for the Deputy.