Government 'committed' to introducing cost of disability payment in budget

THE GOVERNMENT IS “pushing very strongly” to include a cost of disability payment in next month’s budget, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. 

It is estimated that people with disabilities in Ireland may have extra expenses of over €15,000 a year. 

A permanent cost of disability payment is a measure that has been called for by opposition parties over the last number of years. Earlier this year, campaigners staged a protest calling for an emergency €400 payment for disabled people and carers.

The government held a Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network Summit in May, which saw over 1,000 submissions from organisations on the cost of disability.

At the time, Micheál Martin said that introducing an additional payment for disabled people in the budget was “a key target in terms of our budget negotiations”, but declined to confirm whether it had been approved. 

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh, the Fianna Fáil leader said: “If we can begin, once and for all, a cost of disability payment, I think that would be a significant change for people with disabilities.”

“And are you expecting that in this budget?” McCullagh asked.

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“We’re pushing very strongly for that in this budget, yes. I have prioritised disability as a key issue,” Martin said. 

When it was put to him that social protection minister Dara Calleary did not think the payment would be ready for this year, Martin said he had been “working with Dara” on the matter, along with finance minister Simon Harris and public expenditure minister Jack Chambers.

“The entire government are committed to this,” he said, though he did not specify how much the payment would be and whether it would be paid out this year. 

Amid reports that the payment could be introduced on a gradual basis, the Fianna Fáil leader pointed to the carer’s allowance, saying: “When it started, it started at a low base, but look where it is today.

“I think this is something that needs to happen, and we’re going to push hard on that.”

‘Must follow up’ on childcare commitments

Despite the government talking up the €1.5 billion tax package that will be announced on budget day, Jack Chambers sought to downplay it last week by saying it would only amount to “a few hundred euro”.

Asked about this, Martin said the coalition are conscious that people are “under a lot of pressure because of increased energy costs”.

“We can do our very best as a government to try and alleviate that pressure, and we will through income tax reductions, which I think will be impactful.” 

He also pointed to reducing the cost of childcare, a commitment that is contained in the Programme for Government. 

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“If we can reduce the cost of childcare for families, it would mean a lot,” he said. “Parents do need to have costs reduced. We’ve made that commitment in the Programme for Government, and it’s a very significant cost for families with children.

“We know that. We have made very good progress in the last number of years. We’ve made commitments. We need to now follow up on those commitments.”

Minister for Children Norma Foley last week said this must be a “breakthrough budget” in terms of early years and childcare costs for parents.

Acknowledging the government’s pledge to move towards childcare only costing €200 per month, Foley said there’s a huge priority being given to that by the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.

While she would not outline specifically how much savings parents will benefit from, she said:

“I believe I have the support to make a very significant cut, if you like, or advancement in terms of achieving that goal of €200 in this budget.”