The Government amendment is nothing short of a disgrace. What is being proposed by Sinn Féin? We call for the immediate introduction of an emergency budget with supports for workers and families, including a €500 lump sum for people with disabilities. I know the Minister accepts there is a huge cost of disability. There would not be much point in having the consultation he had - with all of the deficiencies that were in it - if not for the fact the Government accepts there is a cost of disability. On the basis of the payments that have been made in previous budgets, I also know there was an acceptance there is a cost of disability that must be looked after. The only thing that lets all of this down is that this year, we, like many others in this Chamber, have been inundated by people talking about the cost of disability that is impacting on them now. There are plenty of disability reports. We can go back to the Cost of Disability in Ireland, the Indecon report in 2021 and the Minister's own failed Green Paper on the cost of disability in 2023. The big one is from the ESRI and IHREC called Adjusting Estimates of Poverty for the Cost of Disability. What do they average the cost out at? They say it is €488 to €555. If you are talking about more challenging needs, it is €786 per week to €875 per week. That is the reality. I thank Physical Impairment Ireland. It provided me with a document called the list of shame. I can see why the consultation did not allow for those with disabilities to ask questions. Many physically impaired people exist in State-sanctioned poverty. Those unable to work live in physical impairment poverty in Ireland. It is now the case of deciding whether to eat or turn on the heating during the day and this is not acceptable. We have all heard the stories of those who cannot afford to charge wheelchairs. Heating may be less of a worry this week than it is most weeks but this is Ireland and the weather we are having is a particular outlier. I also commend the Disability Federation of Ireland, Access for All and the Irish Wheelchair Association, which have been to the fore in relation to this. We have all read - or many of us should have read - the lived reality piece. People with disabilities should not have to fight for everything. If a person gets a job, they would lose their PA hours. The system makes no sense. They cannot afford medication the doctor says they need. They drag out blood tests as long as they can. It is a disgrace.

Sentiment score: -0.04