People with disabilities in this country consistently live in poverty and experience financial struggles much more than the general population, as we have heard in detail from my colleagues this morning. Addressing the cost of disability is not giving something extra for people with disabilities as an act of generosity or pity. It is about creating a more equal Ireland and realising the rights of a group of individuals who face huge barriers to the realisation of those rights. It is about showing people the respect that they deserve as valued members of society. We need to see the cost of disability addressed in the long term. People with disabilities should not live with a tax on their lives. They deserve the same standards of living and care, and the same chance to thrive, as everybody else. This motion is about dealing with the present crisis, which has left so many people unsure of how they will heat their homes, pay for medication or travel to appointments. It is about having a real plan and ambition to make the long-term changes that we need to guarantee people equality. I do not apologise for using that language. The Minister has accused us of using alarmist language. He told us to be careful about using alarmist language when we talk about people choosing between heating and eating. It is not alarmist to the people whose lived experience is choosing between heating and eating. However, I am really glad that the Minister raised the topic of language because in this State we have seen a charitable model of disability dominate policy delivery for people with disabilities. We have just about moved ourselves to a medical model in certain parts of our policy-making for people with disabilities. What we actually need, when we think and talk about disability, is a rights-based model. What that means is that all of us in this country have the right to work, the right to live, the right to privacy and the right to health. When we recognise that we all have those rights, we then identify the shortfalls in certain groups meeting those rights. Then we realise that, as a State, we have an obligation to remove those barriers and to bring people to the same level so that they can access and participate in society in the same way as everybody else. The Minister's comments today are littered with policy after report after consultation. I can tell him that the disability community in Ireland are exhausted and fatigued with consultation, sick to the teeth of hearing about the next report which is going to tell them what they need when they already know what they need. They have been very clear about it and the Social Democrats have been very clear about it. This is a gap and I fully acknowledge that the Government talks about this being a priority. I recognise that the Tánaiste has created the specific group that he has, and that it is reaching into every Department. I recognise all of that, but delivery is not happening. The starkest example of that is budget 2026, in which disabled people were left €1,400 short. They are living that right now. They are living the heating and eating choice. I do not apologise for that language. It is not alarmist when it is lived experience. We know the reasons people with disabilities are more likely to be in poverty. People with disabilities face additional daily costs when it comes to medication, specialist equipment, adaptation of homes and everything they need to be able to live their lives in dignity. We are one of the worst in Europe when it comes to participation of people with disabilities in the labour market, as the Minister has acknowledged. The lives of disabled people in this country are full of additional costs that most of us cannot imagine on a day-to-day basis, and an exclusion from the labour market that makes it even more impossible to survive in dignity. These are the people who have the least power to insulate themselves from this cost-of-living crisis that we are all experiencing, yet this year they are facing the brunt of it. We can do better and we must do better for people with disabilities. This is what we are asking today and every day, and we will continue to fight for as long as it takes to achieve true equality for those among us with disabilities.

Sentiment score: 0.03