Every day, people with disabilities and their families are forced to pay more just to live an ordinary life. They pay more for transport, heating, medical equipment, care and simply getting through the week. Yet, the Government expects people to survive on a €10 increase to the disability allowance that does not even keep pace with inflation. The Government's Indecon report confirmed the cost of having a disability can range from €9,500 to almost €12,000 per year. The Disability Federation of Ireland found that households with a disabled member require up to 59% more disposable income just to achieve the same standard of living as others. For those with severe disabilities, that figure can rise to 93%. These are not abstract figures. They mean families skipping meals, cutting back on heating, struggling with rent and falling deeper into poverty. Figures from 2024 showed that, even when cost-of-disability supports were in place, one in four people with disabilities remained at risk of poverty. Yet, instead of strengthening supports, the Government has ripped them away. The energy credits, lump-sum supports and cost-of-living measures are gone. People with disabilities are now effectively facing a loss in supports of more than €1,400 per year compared with previous budgets. This is because the budget of last year was not in an election year. The motion calls for basic fairness. Sinn Féin is calling for a permanent and immediate cost-of-disability payment to help people to cope with rising costs. The Government's amendment is disappointing. We also need to address the poverty trap the Government has engineered. Ireland has one of the worst disability employment rates in Europe. People want opportunities but low income disregards and poor support actively discourage participation. The Government's approach is detached from reality and deeply unfair. People with disabilities cannot be treated as an afterthought every budget season. They deserve dignity, respect and meaningful support, not empty promises. The Government is holding off for as long as it can with supports for disabilities, hoping the most vulnerable in society will go silent. The recent cost-of-disability public consultation is a delay tactic. The Government knows the vulnerable are suffering and finding it hard to cope with the cost-of-living, yet every individual with a disability must fight for supports. Residential places are getting scarce. Respite care is at times impossible to get and independent living is being encouraged by HIQA, yet supports are not available for people living with a disability to be able to live independently.

Sentiment score: -0.04