Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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731. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will implement an emergency winter payment for those people with a disability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63844/25]

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, 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. The Back to Work 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.

In addition, the recently published National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 takes a whole-of-Government approach and includes a commitment to establish a Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability, led by my Department.

My officials have already held meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the possible structure and content of the Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability. I will be meeting a number of organisations at the next meeting of my Department’s Disability Consultative Forum on 2 December at which the Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network is the main agenda item.

I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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732. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to accelerate the delivery of the permanent cost of disability payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63845/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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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.

The Programme for Government commits to introducing a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment. In addition, under the recently published National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 my Department will lead a Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability. The First Programme Plan of Actions 2025 - 2026 will be published shortly.

My officials have already held meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the possible structure and content of the Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability. I will be meeting a number of organisations at the next meeting of my Department’s Disability Consultative Forum on 2 December at which the Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network is the main agenda item.

My Department provides the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, for those whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents. Under the scheme, the Department may make an ‘additional needs payment’ to meet essential expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to an additional needs payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service.

I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.