Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
60. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Social Protection the steps being taken to ensure that disability supports and payments adequately meet the needs of people with disabilities, income adequacy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2677/26]
View answerMy Department provides a suite of income supports for those who are unable to work due to an illness or disability. These include non-contributory payments, based on a means test, such as Disability Allowance and contributory payments, based on PRSI contributions, such as Invalidity Pension and Partial Capacity Benefit. The purpose of these payments is to provide income support for people experiencing specific contingencies that limit their ability to earn an income.
Disability Allowance is a long-term social assistance scheme for people who are aged between 16 and 66. In order to qualify, the person must satisfy a habitual residency condition, a means test and meet the medical requirement. The medical requirement for disability allowance is that the person's disability must be expected to last for at least one year, and the disability must substantially restrict their ability to work.
Invalidity pension is a long-term social insurance scheme, based on PRSI contributions and medical condition. In order to qualify, the person must have been incapable of work for at least 12 months and be likely to be incapable of work for at least another 12 months; or must be permanently incapable of work.
Over the last five budgets the Government has progressively improved payment rates and income disregards for disabled people. The weekly payment rates for Disability Allowance have increased by €51 in that time. The earnings disregard has increased by almost 38% since Budget 2021 from €120 to €165 currently. This enables those in receipt of Disability Allowance to earn more without having a negative impact on their means tested payment. This means that people can earn up to €165 per week and keep their payment in full and can earn up to €527.60 per week and keep a portion of their payment.
In Budget 2026, I provided for a €1.15 billion package of new social protection measures. This contained significant targeted measures to support disabled people, including:
• A €10 increase in the weekly rates of payment, bringing the personal rates of payment to €254 per week from this month.
• A Christmas bonus double payment to all persons getting a long-term disability payment, paid in December 2025.
• The highest ever increases in the Child Support Payment – an increase of €16 to €78 for children aged 12 or over, and of €8 to €58 for children under 12, from this month.
• A €5 increase in the Fuel Allowance, bring it to €38 per week from this month.
• People moving from Disability Allowance or Blind Pension to take up work will be able to retain their Fuel Allowance payment for five years.
• People getting Disability Allowance or Blind Pension who have children will be eligible for Back to Work Family Dividend when taking up employment and moving off those payments.
• Expansion of the Wage Subsidy Scheme to people who acquire a disability while in employment and to those who transfer from Invalidity Pension to Partial Capacity Benefit, and increasing the rates paid from April.
The Department of Social Protection package also contained measures aimed at supporting carers, and recipients of Domiciliary Care Allowance.
Independent research from the ESRI shows that, overall, the impact of Budgets 2026 was broadly progressive, supporting households in the lower income deciles.
Both the Programme for Government and the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 include a range of commitments to improve both the income and employment supports available for disabled people from my Department. We have already made progress and we will continue to advance these commitments over the lifetime of the Government and in the light of prevailing budgetary conditions.
Access to disability services and assessment timelines are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality.
I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.
