Disability Issues
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

I thank the Minister. I know he will share with us the amount he will give in the budget in the further reply. He will be aware of the additional costs for those people living with a disability. The Indecon report puts that cost at between €9,000 and €12,000 per year. Indeed, when we were at our Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism, we saw a number of reports that the cost could be anything up to €30,000 per year. It is a substantial amount for anybody living with a disability. I welcome that the Minister has given a commitment that he is seriously considering a payment.
What the people who are living with disabilities and their advocates want to know is that, in budget 2027, the Government will finally recognise the urgent need for a cost-of-disability payment. I hope the Minister will confirm that all of his conversations with those in the Department of Finance and elsewhere will result in that payment, once and for all. The Disability Federation of Ireland is looking for €55 per week. Will the Minister confirm that that amount will be forthcoming?

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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