I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the cost of living. On Tuesday, 26 May 2026, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now.
Cost of Disability: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Louise O'Reilly on Tuesday, 26 May 2026:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that there have been four major reviews and reports on the cost of disability, i.e., the additional costs to which disabilities give rise for individuals and their families, beginning with The Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities in 1996, the Indecon Report entitled "The Cost of Disability in Ireland" in 2021, the Government's failed Green Paper on the Cost of Disability in 2023, and the recent joint research project by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) "Adjusting Estimates of Poverty for the Cost of Disability" in 2025;
further notes that the Government launched yet another consultation on the matter in February of this year;
recognises that households in which a member has a disability undergo significant additional costs, compared to households in which no member has a disability, with the ESRI/IHREC estimating a weekly cost of €488 - €555 on average;
affirms that no one in the State should be worse off socially, politically, or economically, because of their disability;
condemns the choice made by the Government in Budget 2026 to withdraw emergency supports from workers and families, including, in particular, the €1,400 worth of cost-of-living supports withdrawn from disabled people this year;
recognises that workers and families, including and especially those with disabilities, cannot wait until next year and Budget 2027 for supports, and that on the basis of their Budget 2026 experience they cannot trust the Government to deliver what is needed; and
calls on the Government to:
— immediately introduce an Emergency Budget with supports for workers and families, including a €500 lump sum for people with disabilities; and
— introduce, no later than Budget 2027, a new permanent cost of disability scheme, involving weekly payments for people with disabilities, whether they are in employment or not in employment, that recognises the additional costs to which their disabilities give rise.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"acknowledges that:
— the State provides a broad range of income, education, health and other supports for disabled people, has increased investment in these supports and under the leadership of the Cabinet Committee of Disability Matters chaired by the Taoiseach, will continue to prioritise further improvements over the lifetime of this Government, including with respect to the introduction of a cost of disability payment;
— Budget 2026 provided for a €1.15 billion package of new social protection measures, bringing expenditure in respect of disabled people and their carers to just under €6 billion per annum, this contained significant targeted measures to support disabled people and carers, including:
— a €10, or 4.1 per cent increase in the weekly rates of disability payments, bringing personal rates to €254 per week from January, this represents an additional payment of €520 in 2026 and a €51 increase in weekly disability income support payments since Budget 2021;
— the highest ever increase in the weekly Child Support Payment, an increase of €16 to €78 for children aged 12 or over (an additional €832 per child in 2026), and €8 to €58 for children aged under 12 (an additional €416 per child in 2026), these payments have increased by €48.20 and €28.20 per week respectively since 2017, approximately, 53,000 recipients of the Disability Allowance (DA), the Blind Pension and the Invalidity Pension are in receipt of a Child Support Payment;
— a €5, or 15 per cent increase in the Fuel Allowance, bring it to €38 per week from January 2026, providing recipients with an additional €140 during the annual Fuel Allowance season;
— a €20 per month increase in the monthly rate of Domiciliary Care Allowance, bringing it to €380 per month from January 2026, this represents an additional payment of €240 per year in 2026, and an increase of over €70 or 23 per cent since 2022;
— an increase in the weekly Carer's Allowance income disregard to €1,000 for a single person (up from €625) and €2,000 for a couple (up from €1,250), while the weekly income limit for Carer's Benefit will rise by €375 to €1,000, all from July 2026;
— the extension of fuel allowance eligibility to enable people on DA or the Blind Pension payments to retain their Fuel Allowance payment for five years if they take up employment;
— the extension of eligibility for Back to Work Family Dividend payment to the DA or Blind Pension recipients when taking up employment;
— expansion of eligibility for the Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) to people who acquire a disability while in employment, and to those who transfer from Invalidity Pension to Partial Capacity Benefit; and
— increased payment rates under the WSS, to encourage employers to employ disabled people;
— Budget 2026, also included an increased allocation of €3.88 billion for disability services funded through the Department of Children, Disability and Equality in 2026, providing €2.21 billion to deliver residential services for over 9,000 disabled people, enabling them to live as independently as possible in their local communities, including:
— day and night respite care of over 10,000 extra nights and 15,000 further day sessions;
— €10 million extra to support the transition of people under the age of 65 currently residing in nursing homes;
— €3 million extra for the development and continued expansion of Community Neuro-Rehabilitation Teams;
— €24.5 million providing approximately 1,400 new places for disabled students leaving school;
— €5.5 million for 100,000 additional home support hours and 50,000 additional personal assistance hours;
— €8 million for the recruitment of 150 additional staff for Children's Disability Network Teams;
— €20 million extra for the Assessment of Need Targeted Waitlist Initiative, through the provision of up to 6,000 clinical assessments; and
— €65 million for new developments in disability residential services, including €40 million that will provide in the region of 199 residential responses, including 152 newly created residential placements;
— Budget 2026, also provided for further improvements for disabled people in education, including an allocation of €3 billion to special education, will provide:
— an additional 860 teachers for special education;
— up to a further 3,000 special class and special school places for the 2026/2027 school year; and
— 1,717 additional Special Needs Assistants bringing the total number to almost 24,900;
— in addition, Budget 2026 provided:
— €130 million under the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with Disabilities;
— a €25 million allocation to the Public Transport Accessibility Retrofit Programme, to deliver bus and train accessibility improvements to increase the numbers of wheelchair accessible small public service vehicles (taxis), and to expand the Independent Travel Support scheme;
— approximately an allocation increase of €2 million to €13 million, to the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme Fuel Grant;
— investment of €69 million in the School Transport Scheme, which will benefit 26,700 students with disabilities; and
— an increase of €3 million for the Fund for Students with Disabilities in further and higher education to €18.2 million, which supports over 24,500 students;
notes that:
— the €250 million energy relief package introduced in March included a four-week extension to the Fuel Allowance season, this directly benefits over 96,000 families where the recipient is in receipt of either the DA, the Blind Pension, or the Invalidity Pension;
— under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, a special Heating Supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances that have special heating needs, for example, in the case of ill health, infirmity or a medical condition; and
— the Additional Needs Payment may also be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of their own resources;
further acknowledges that:
— a dedicated Disability Unit has been established in the Department of the Taoiseach, to drive progress in enhancing supports for disabled people;
— progress will be monitored by the Cabinet Committee on Children, Disability and Education chaired by the Taoiseach;
— in addition to the measures already taken, the Government is determined to deliver on its Programme for Government commitment to introduce a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment;
— this commitment was reiterated as a core objective of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which the Government published in September 2025;
— under this strategy, the Minister for Social Protection hosted a Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network Summit (the Summit) on 13th May, 2026, this summit brought together over 300 people (in-person and on-line), including disabled people, representatives from Disabled Person's Organisations (DPOs), key stakeholder groups, Members of the Oireachtas and officials from a number of Government Departments; and
— reflecting the requirement for a whole-of-Government approach to addressing costs of disability the Summit was addressed by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, and also attended by the Minister of State with responsibility for Disability at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality;
— the approach to and content of the Summit was informed by:
— responses to a public consultation to which over 1,100 submissions received;
— direct input from DPOs who helped to develop the agenda, and played a key role at the event including, leading sessions; and
— all relevant research, including the Indecon Report entitled 'The Cost of Disability in Ireland' in 2021, which was commissioned by the Department of Social Protection and represents the largest and most comprehensive analysis of the cost of disability;
— the discussions at the Summit highlighted:
— how the costs of disability are not uniform, but vary significantly depending on the type and nature of a person's disability, and their personal circumstances;
— not all costs can be addressed through a cost of disability payment as many costs relate to services and require measures across other sectors, including health, education and transport; and
— the preference by disabled people, for a basic universal payment made to all disabled people supplemented by additional amounts for disabled people facing the highest costs; and
further notes that the Department of Social Protection will continue to engage with disabled people and their advocates, with respect to a cost of disability payment, including at the Department's Pre-Budget Forum on 1st July.".
(Minister for Social Protection)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 78; Níl, 64; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Boland, Grace.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Cummins, John.
- Currie, Emer.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Joe.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Roche, Peter.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
- Ward, Barry.
Níl
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Cummins, Jen.
- Daly, Pa.
- Devine, Máire.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ennis, Daniel.
- Farrelly, Aidan.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gibney, Sinéad.
- Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Hearne, Rory.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lawless, Paul.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 78; Níl, 64; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Boland, Grace.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Cummins, John.
- Currie, Emer.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Kyne, Seán.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Neville, Joe.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Roche, Peter.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
- Ward, Barry.
Níl
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Cummins, Jen.
- Daly, Pa.
- Devine, Máire.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Ennis, Daniel.
- Farrelly, Aidan.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gibney, Sinéad.
- Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Hearne, Rory.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lawless, Paul.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Question declared carried.