84. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will update the Dáil on the work his Department has carried out in designing a cost of disability payment, as outlined in the programme for Government; the expected date of introduction of such a payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21989/25]

Sentiment score: 0.01

Will the Minister update the House on the work his Department has carried out to date on designing a cost of disability payment, as outlined in the programme for Government, the expected date of such a payment and the amount involved?

Sentiment score: 0.00

As part of the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism, we had a number of presentations on the cost of disability to families. One of the most recent reports I have seen shows there is an additional €30,000 per annum cost for a family with a disability or a loved one with a disability. That is obviously substantial and causes hardship. A lot of that hardship is ongoing. The Minister mentioned temporary payments in the context of how they mask what is really going on behind the doors of those families who are scraping to get by to pay for their loved ones, heating and everything else they must pay. Can the Minister provide a timeframe? While he said he would commit to this throughout the lifetime of this Government, can we get some more dates as to when we can actually see a cost of that? The services he mentioned are very important for families. If they do not get the additional payments, which we are being told will not come in the next budget, we are going to see a lot of families scraping by. They will be in a lot of trouble come the winter months in particular with the cost of disability as it stands at the moment.

Sentiment score: 0.09

I thank the Minister. Reference has been made to the work programme for the social protection committee. I am sure, along with others in the House, that this is something that we would love to have included in the work programme. It is very important for many people when they are looking at an additional €30,000 that they have to scrape for to find. This is a substantial amount. This is an average that has been outlined in one of the most recent reports that I have seen. I look forward to engaging with the Minister at the social protection committee on this topic. It is important that it forms an early part of our discussions on the work programme. Too many people are suffering from a lack of supports, particularly now, when we have heard the kite flying from Ministers that there will be no more temporary payments come the budget next year. There are a lot of worried families. We can do some good work on the social protection committee by trying to come up with some solutions for those families.

Sentiment score: 0.16