Disability Issues
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

The Government very much recognises the additional costs that disabled people face in their daily lives and we are committed to improving outcomes for disabled people by introducing permanent measures. This is why, as part of the programme for Government, we have included a commitment to introduce a permanent annual cost-of-disability payment. To that end, the national human rights strategy for disabled people was developed with significant input from disability groups and advocates. It included a commitment to a strategic focus network summit on the cost of disability. A public consultation process on how a cost-of-disability payment can best be delivered was launched on 20 February and ran for six weeks. It received over 1,100 submissions and culminated with a summit at the Aviva Stadium on 13 May. That summit was attended by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for children, the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport and me.
Arising from the lived experiences shared at the summit, I presented to the delivery and monitoring committee, which is chaired by the Taoiseach, in the middle of July. That meeting as also attended by a number of colleagues and representatives. We will publish the presentation as soon as possible. It is clear that a whole-of-government approach is important in addressing costs. As well as income support, we have to improve delivery and access to key services. One of the themes of the day was that transport is a major challenge.
With particular reference to the cost-of-disability payment, we are currently addressing that in the context of budget discussions. The consultation feedback is that disability groups predominantly want a cost-of-disability payment paid at a basic rate to all qualified recipients. There is a high demand for a graduated payment made as a supplement to some people based on the nature of disability and the costs arising.
However, the main demand was that disabled people and their advocates would be involved in codesign of any detailed scheme, and we are working towards a model in that regard.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24