Social Welfare Benefits
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Eoin Hayes (SD), Dublin Bay South

I have been speaking to a lot of disabled people over the past few weeks about their experiences and on this question of a cost-of-disability payment, permanent or otherwise. Some of the stories they told me were that they were using only one heating bar on their electric heater rather two because they could not afford the cost of electricity, that they were going in for central dialysis in a hospital because they could not afford the energy costs of doing it at home thus increases the risk of hospitalisation and that they could not charge their electronic wheelchair. A wheelchair user was going to several shops to try to figure out where she could get the best deal for food. There is real anger and frustration at this drop of €1,400 that has been stripped from people with disabilities. These costs are affecting everyone but this is the most vulnerable population in the State. They were vulnerable before the cost-of-living crisis. They will be vulnerable after the cost-of-living crisis.
Importantly, I reject this question of it being a one-off payment. If the Minister intends to introduce a cost-of-disability payment, a payment in lieu of it through the Supplementary Estimates process would absolutely be within his gift and within the gift of Fianna Fáil.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15