Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 November 2025
388. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to review how Budget 2026 will impact disabled households over the winter months with rising fuel and living costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66786/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra409. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection to deliver fair and adequate supports that reflect the real costs people with disabilities face; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67177/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra410. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection to review the way in which Budget 2026 will impact disabled households over the winter months, when fuel and living costs peak; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67179/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra412. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection to urgently review the implications of Budget 2026 in respect of persons with disabilities (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67182/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 388, 409, 410 and 412 together.
The Government recognises the significant additional costs that disabled people can face in their daily lives and is committed improving outcomes for disabled people by introducing permanent measures.
That is why the Programme for Government includes a range of commitments to support disabled people. Our Programme for Government commitments will be advanced over the lifetime of the Government, having regard to the overall policy and budgetary context.
Government has been very clear that there would be no once-off measures in this year’s Budget. We are at the start of a five-year programme for Government and not everything can be done in year one.
Not all of the matters covered in the details supplied relate to my Department. For example, the one-off electricity credits provided over the past few years are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment.
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 January.
• A Christmas bonus double payment to all persons getting a long-term disability payment, to be 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.
• A €5 increase in the Fuel Allowance, bring it to €38 per week from January 2026.
• 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.
• Increase the Earnings Disregard for Carer’s Allowance by €375 to €1,000 for a single person and by €750 to €2,000 for a couple from July 2026.
• The income limit for Carer’s Benefit will increase by €375 to €1,000 per week from July 2026.
• €20 increase in the monthly Domiciliary Care Allowance payment bringing the payment to €380 per month from January.
The Government also allocated €3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026, including funding for Community Based Specialist Disability Services to ensure people with disabilities receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place. This represents a 20% increase year on year and represents an overall increase since 2020 of €1.8 billion.
The Programme for Government commits to introducing a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment. In addition, under the recently published National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 my Department will lead a Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability. The First Programme Plan of Actions 2025 - 2026 will be published shortly.
My officials have already held meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the possible structure and content of the Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability. I will be meeting a number of organisations at the next meeting of my Department’s Disability Consultative Forum on 2 December at which the Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network is the main agenda item.
My Department provides the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme, for those whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependents. Under the scheme, the Department may make an ‘additional needs payment’ to meet essential expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. Any person who considers they may have an entitlement to an additional needs payment is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service.
My Department will publish a social impact assessment of Budget 2026, with distributional analysis of the measures in this Budget.
I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.
