Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2023
116. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Social Protection if there are any measures under consideration by her Department to reduce poverty levels among those with disabilities that were not announced in the Budget. [54180/23]
View answerMy department provides a number of income supports for those who are unable to work due to illness or disability. These include insurance-based schemes, based on Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions, and means-tested social assistance schemes.
In Budget 2024, I announced a number of measures to further address the poverty faced by those with disabilities, including a €400 lump-sum payment in November, a Christmas Bonus double payment in December, a Cost-of-Living Bonus payment in January and a €12 increase in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability payments.
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 income supports and further addressing poverty among people with disabilities. It is a response to commitments made under the Roadmap for Social Inclusion, Pathways to Work and the Make Work Pay report.
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.
It seeks to achieve this through a new three-tiered Personal Support Payment. This tiered proposal 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 and wish to work.
Nobody will lose their payment or have their payment reduced and nobody will be forced to take up unsuitable employment. The objective is to increase people’s payments and provide more employment supports for those who can and want to work. At a conservative estimate, the proposed measures, if introduced, would cost an additional €130 million each year.
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 individuals and groups with an interest in disability issues to make a submission in writing or by video by 15 March 2024. It is essential to the consultation process that the department hears from as many disabled people and representative organisations as possible.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
