Social Welfare Benefits
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

There are a number of issues. I made it very clear that we are working on introducing a permanent cost-of-disability payment. I look forward to hearing people's proposals on this with a view towards budget 2027. In relation to the employability issues raised by Deputies McGreehan and Ó Murchú, we have made changes to the wage subsidy scheme. At the end of November, we had 1,550 employers and 2,615 employees participating. I have made administrative changes, in particular in terms of centralising the decision-making process in this so that it is quicker.
In terms of work and access, I am making changes in relation to adaptive technology so that we can support it. Deputy Ó Murchú has engaged with me on this a number of times and we are making changes to support employers who use assistive technology. It gives many more opportunities. We have changed the rates and we continue to review the rates and their impact. As I said earlier, we will do a number of themed disability employment events throughout 2026 to encourage employers to offer opportunities to those with a disability, not only here in Dublin but across the country.

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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