I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on the cost of disability. It is something that has been raised on a consistent basis since I entered this Dáil Chamber over 18 months ago and it has been brought to my attention on a number of occasions in that time by many people, including parents, those living with disabilities themselves, schools and grandparents who have come into the constituency office who are obviously fearing for their grandchildren who may have a disability or their adult grandchildren who cannot get access to further education and employment. For a long time in this country we have had slogans about it. We have had protests and then we have had short-term responses to what the particular protests are about. However, for many disabled people and their families these are not occasional pressures. They are becoming permanent pressures and a permanent financial reality. Living with a disability often brings unavoidable additional costs. I know this acutely, even from a personal perspective. People have higher energy bills, increased transport expenses, medical and therapeutic supports, specialised equipment, housing adaptations and, in many cases, reduced opportunities to participate fully in education or employment, as I said. These are not optional costs; they are essential costs. We can speak about grants, say, for home adaptations and things like that. It is the case a majority of the time that those grants for housing adaptations do not necessarily fit for these very people. Research commissioned by the Government has demonstrated that the additional cost of disability can amount to many thousands of euro every year. Yet, despite growing recognition of the issue, too many people continue to struggle to meet those costs on inadequate incomes. Advocacy organisations such as the Disability Federation of Ireland and Inclusion Ireland have consistently highlighted the financial strain being experienced by disabled people, carers and families right across the country. Behind every statistic is a lived experience. There are parents who are forced to absorb enormous additional household costs simply to ensure their child can access basic services, people on disability allowance who are trying to manage rising energy and transport bills while living on a fixed income, and young disabled people who want independence and participation in society but face financial barriers at every stage of life. These are serious issues that require serious policy responses. There have been important steps taken in recent years, and it is right to acknowledge that awareness of the cost of disability has grown significantly across the political system. However, awareness alone is not enough. What is needed now is a sustained commitment to reducing disability poverty and recognising the real and recurring costs that disabled people face every single day. The Labour Party is practical about this. In our 2026 alternative budget we placed an extremely strong emphasis on protecting living standards and supporting those under the greatest pressure. Our alternative budget including proposals to increase core social welfare rates, strengthen energy and household supports, deliver broader cost-of-living measures designed to support vulnerable households, and scrap the means test of the carer's allowance at a cost of €330 million. That is a costed real-life solution for many families right across this country. It is often the case that people come in here with populist slogans and do not have the costed proposals with them or often do not have the right answer for the people who are there. The solution, however, has been given to the Minister about getting rid of the means test for carer's allowance. Disability policy cannot be treated in isolation from housing, healthcare, transport or energy policy. All of these issues are connected. At its core, this debate is about equality and dignity. A fair republic should not ask disabled people to carry a disproportionate financial burden simply because the supports around them are inadequate. The objective should not merely be helping people to cope. It should be ensuring that disabled people can participate fully in society, live independently and enjoy the same opportunities and quality of life as every other citizen. That should be the ambition of every public policy and that is the standard we should set for ourselves as legislators. As the Minister is here, it is important to point out that applications for any social welfare payment, but particularly for those who have disabilities, are not seamless. At times they are extremely difficult. The Minister will know this himself because I am absolutely sure his constituency office is as busy, if not busier, than my own. I have no issue with it and neither does my secretary, who has done it for 30 years, but as these applications are not seamless what we find is that people who are living with disabilities have to come to the office, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, and ask us to fill out the application form with them. That is a difficult process for those people to go through and it is really something the Department should look into trying to resolve.

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