There are two very straightforward asks in the motion. They are asks that deal with the reality that disabled people the length and breadth of our State are living. It is a reality that was shared with us by them when they came to the gates of Leinster House. It is difficult for people to come to the gates of Leinster House to tell strangers that they are rationing fuel or struggling to put food on the table, and to feel that they have to say it. That is a great shame on one of the richest countries in the world. It is an amendment that very much ignores the lived reality. The amendment the Government has brought forward is extremely long. It does not once mention the words "poverty" or "deprivation". It ignores that lived reality. When the SILC data is published annually, I always look at enforced deprivation because they are the people who cannot afford a decent pair of shoes, who are struggling to keep the heat on in their homes or are struggling to have a meal with meat once a week. On the figure for 2025, it is unfortunate that the CSO does not actually speak to and label various household compositions and who is in those households in terms of disabled people. They are classed as people out of work. A total of 39.2% of those people had lived and experienced enforced deprivation in 2025. That figure is up from the year before. That is stark. It represents people who are really struggling, day-to-day, to heat their homes and have a warm meal. It is really regrettable that the Government's very long amendment fails to acknowledge those people who are living in poverty and who are experiencing deprivation. The rest of the amendment speaks to all of the budget measures from last year, all of which remain ineffective while people continue to live and experience poverty. The second part of our motion is a commitment to introduce a cost of disability payment. The Government should commit to doing that in the next budget. The Minister should commit to a cost-of-disability payment in the next budget. There is an opportunity to do that this evening. The Minister did not commit to it in the amendment but I hope he will here this evening because people need to know that is coming. Unless we acknowledge that deprivation and those levels of poverty and those at risk of poverty, we are very much failing those people who experience it and live it, day in, day out.

Sentiment score: -0.11