I thank Deputies for their contributions to this important debate. The Government is well aware of the additional costs faced by disabled people. The Government has opposed this motion and tabled an amendment, but that does not mean that we do not recognise the difficulties and additional costs that disabled people face. We are very aware of those costs. Our determination to assist people with those costs is reflected in the improvements we have made to disability support schemes in recent years and our commitment to further improvements. As the Minister, Deputy Calleary, explained earlier and as outlined in the programme for Government, we are committed to introducing a permanent annual cost-of-disability-support payment and we will do that. The huge response to the public consultation process, the discussions at the recent strategic focus network summit on the cost of disability and the relevant research will all feed into the development of that payment. Regarding heating and energy costs, I stress that the community welfare service is available to provide financial support for these essentials when people need it. The additional needs payment and the heat supplement exist for precisely this purpose. Our commitment to introducing an annual cost-of-disability-support payment is incredibly important, but it is just one piece of the jigsaw. We know that payment cannot solve everything. The availability and accessibility of services and other supports are also key. That is why the cross-departmental nature of the national human rights strategy for disabled people and the summit in particular are so important. We have committed to reforming the disability allowance payment and removing anomalies in the current means test for the payment. As I am sure Deputies know, the Department of Social Protection is conducting a review of means testing across its schemes. Any future changes will be guided by the outcome of that review. We are committed to progressively increasing weekly disability payments. We have been doing this, including in the most recent budget where we have increased the personal rates, as well as the rates for qualified adults, and the child support payment. The issues facing disabled people cut across Government and that is why the national human rights strategy for disabled people is a key focus. It adopts a whole-of-government approach with individual Departments and State agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit across five key pillars, including employment. The Department of Social Protection is the joint lead on the employment pillar together with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. We all know that many disabled people face barriers in the workplace and when looking for employment. The Government wants to address those barriers. The Department of Social Protection, through its nationwide network of Intreo centres, provides employment services for jobseekers. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, these mainstream services are available to disabled people. The Department also offers tailored supports. EmployAbility offers specialist employment services to people with disabilities. It can help people find work through its job-matching service and offer ongoing in-work support to employees and employers. There is now a designated disability employment personal adviser in each of the 62 Intreo offices. Training initiatives are being promoted to raise awareness and understanding of disabilities among Intreo staff. In July 2022, the Department of Social Protection launched early engagement. This scheme proactively invites people to talk about their employment ambitions with Intreo and then helps them achieve their goals through the Department’s employment and training supports. Taking part is completely voluntary. In December 2023, a new employment programme under the new European Social Fund Plus funding was announced. WorkAbility: Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme aims to support up to 13,000 disabled people in progressing their training and employment ambitions through 57 local, regional and national organisations. The programme runs from January 2024 to December 2028. The experience to date has been very positive. The Department of Social Protection also provides funding for AHEAD’s GetAHEAD and Willing Able Mentoring programmes to help people with disabilities transition from education to work. GetAHEAD works to upskill graduates with disabilities with information sessions and training events. Willing Able Mentoring provides mentored and paid work placements for graduates with disabilities. The Government has committed to expanding and building on successful programmes like WorkAbility, EmployAbility and the new work and access programme to support people with disabilities into employment. Budget 2026 provided for an expansion of the wage subsidy scheme and an increase in the payment rates. These positive measures build on other recent improvements to the schemes such as the reduction in the number of hours from 21 to 15. There are already arrangements in place whereby when a former disability allowance customer’s employment ceases or their hours significantly reduce within 12 months of the termination of their disability allowance, it is open to that person to contact the Department to have their disability allowance payment reinstated without the need to make a new application. These requests are read within 48 hours of receipt and fast-tracked back into payment from there. We are committed to further improving the position in this regard. We are also extending the back to work family dividend to people with children who are moving off disability allowance or blind pension into employment. This will help ease that transition over a two-year period. We will also work with employers and across government to improve employment of disabled people. Employment is hugely beneficial for people, but we know that there are costs associated with going to work. This was one of the clear messages at the recent summit. Secondary benefits are of great support in assisting people with additional costs. Fear of losing secondary benefits can be a significant concern for people when they are considering taking up or increasing their employment. That is why it was important for us to introduce measures whereby recipients of disability allowance or blind pension would be able retain their fuel allowance payments for up to five years on moving into employment. There are already arrangements in place for the retention of certain secondary benefits when a person moves off a disability payment into employment. A person can retain their eligibility for the free travel pass for five years if they move from one of the following disability payments into work: disability allowance; invalidity pension; partial capacity benefit from invalidity pension; or disablement benefit, when paid along with an incapacity supplement. In addition, a person who had been in receipt of certain social welfare payments, such as disability allowance, for 12 consecutive months may retain their medical card for three years on moving into employment. In the work we are doing now on the cost of disability, it is important to remember that we are building on the supports already available and the improvements that have been made to same, particularly in recent years. The Government is also committed to introducing a permanent cost-of-disability support payment. We will do that. It is important to emphasise that the Government remains fully committed to continuing its consultation and close engagement with disabled people, disability representative groups and other stakeholders. I thank the Deputies who tabled this motion and all the Deputies who have contributed on it. While we are tabling an amendment, it does not mean that we do not recognise the difficulties and additional costs that disabled people face.

Sentiment score: 0.29