Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2023
111. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has considered introducing a permanent cost-of-living payment for disabled people; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46447/23]
View answerMy department provides a suite of income supports to those who cannot work due to illness or disability. It is important to note that eligibility for these payments is generally not dependent on the type of the illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work. My department also provides a range of employment supports for disabled people who want to work or who are working.
The Indecon Cost of Disability report identified that additional costs of disability run across many areas of expenditure, including housing, transport, health, and education.
The report did not propose a Cost of Disability payment. It found that the cost of disability is significantly broader than income supports and there is not a single, typical cost of disability. Rather, there is a spectrum from low to high additional costs of disability, depending on individual circumstances.
The report concluded that disability payments should be targeted to those most in need and who face the greatest additional cost of disability rather than spreading resources thinly.
I am committed to addressing the cost of disability and improving outcomes for people with a disability. In Budget 2024, the following measures were announced that people on long-term disability supports will benefit from:
• In November, a €400 Disability Support lump sum will be paid to people receiving a long-term disability payment.
• A Christmas Bonus Double Payment will be paid to people in receipt of Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension and Blind Pension.
• From January 2024, there will be an increase of €12 in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability payments, with proportionate increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates.
• Also, in January 2024, there will be a once-off double Cost of Living Support Payment which will be paid to qualifying Social Protection recipients, including all pensioners, carers and people on long-term disability payments.
I also introduced a number of measures that disabled people may benefit from, depending on their personal circumstances:
• In November, a €300 lump sum will be paid to those in receipt of the Fuel Allowance.
• In November, a €200 lump sum will be paid to those in receipt of the Living Alone Allowance.
• In November, there will be a once-off payment of €100 for each child in respect of whom an Increase for a Qualified Child is in payment.
• In December, there will be a double payment of child benefit.
• In January 2024, there will be an increase in the weekly rate of the Increase for Qualified Children by €4 per week for children of all ages.
• Free travel will be extended to an estimated 32,000 people medically certified as unfit to drive.
• From April 2024, €3.7 million additional funding has been allocated to implement reforms to the Wage Subsidy Scheme. This will allow for potential improvements on foot of the scheme’s review, including reducing the minimum required hours from 21 to 15 hours.
However, there is still a need to reform our system of disability payments. In September, I published the Green Paper on Disability Reform to begin the conversation about improving these supports and further addressing the cost of disability.
The aim of the Green Paper is two-fold. Firstly it aims to encourage a higher level of employment for people with disabilities, which will improve their outcomes; and secondly to better insulate disabled people who cannot work from poverty and deprivation.
The Paper’s key proposal is to introduce a new long-term disability payment that has three tiers of payment with associated employment supports.
This takes into consideration the recommendations of the Cost of Disability report, which found that income supports should be differentiated by need and that government policy should facilitate employment among those who can work.
The Green Paper is not a cost cutting measure. Based on a conservative estimate, the Green Paper proposals, if introduced, would increase spending by more than €130 million per year.
Nobody will lose their payment or have their payment reduced. The objective is to increase people’s payments and provide more employment supports for those who can and want to work.
I would like to emphasise that the Green Paper is not a final design. It is only a starting point for a structured discussion on what the future of long-term disability payments could look like. It offers one possible approach on how to target limited resources - its proposals are intended to invite discussion, debate and suggestions.
I encourage all those with an interest to express their views in our public consultation by making a submission or attending one of our public consultation events in Dublin, Cork and Athlone in November. It is essential that we hear from as many disabled people and representatives as possible. We would like to hear what people like and don't like about the proposals and suggestions of how they could be improved or replaced with alternatives.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
