Under the programme for prosperity and fairness, an interdepartmental working group, chaired by the Department of Health and Children, was established to examine the feasibility of introducing a cost of disability payment, PPF 3.10.11. The current membership of the working group is as follows: Frank Tracy, Department of Health and Children; Anne Marie Kilkenny, Department of Health and Children; Terry Walsh, Department of Finance; John Fitzpatrick, Department of Finance; Brian Miller, East Coast Area Health Board; Claire O'Connor, National Disability Authority; Leo Sheedy, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Brendan Sheehy, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform; and Enda Flynn, Department of Social and Family Affairs.
The NDA, on the behalf of the working group, and in line with its own remit, commissioned research which was undertaken by Indecon into the feasibility of a cost of disability payment in Ireland. The purpose of this research was to advise the NDA and the working group of the additional costs incurred by people with disabilities, owing specifically to the direct or indirect costs of the disability and the appropriate mechanisms, policies or instruments by which to address identified additional costs. The resultant report, Disability and the Cost of Living, was published by the NDA early in 2004.
In March this year, the working group produced a position paper which outlined an overview of the work it has undertaken to date, its current thinking and an indication of the next steps the it intends taking. The working group strongly recommends that urgent steps be taken to improve the quality of data on disability in Ireland as recommended in the Indecon report. This might include, for example, adjustment of existing data-gathering exercises undertaken by the Central Statistics Office or other relevant bodies to include questions on the numbers per household with disabilities, the nature of the disability and the severity of impairment. The working group considers that it is vital that comprehensive data is available on which to base consideration of the feasibility of a cost of disability payment. Given its advisory and research remit, the working group considers that the National Disability Authority has an important role to play in addressing these data gaps along with other relevant bodies.
The working group acknowledges that a number of Departments and Government agencies have previously carried out reviews of the various supports and payments for people with disabilities. However, these reviews have tended to focus solely on the operation of individual schemes without taking a broader view of how the measures involved fit into the overall system of disability supports. The working group proposes to examine the scope for rationalising and streamlining the various disability support measures with a particular focus on mitigating the additional costs of disability for a greater number of people with disabilities, especially in the case of those who wish to move from a position of total welfare dependence to one of greater economic independence.
With regard to the second point above, the NDA has recently commenced work in consultation with the CSO to improve the quality of data collection on people with disabilities. On the third point, the working group has begun to explore the pathway from welfare to employment for people with disabilities and, in particular, the benefits trap which exists for people with disabilities, vis-à-vis the medical card. I understand the working group expects to complete this work within six months.
