Martin Daly presses on disability costs, calls for reform

Minister, my question concerns the annual cost of disability allowance and invalidity pension schemes. These payments are essential supports for people living with long-term illness or disability, but they represent a significant and growing component of the government's budget and your department's budget. I am seeking clarity around the current annual expenditure, the trends over the recent years and the pressures that might be driving increases in demand. It is important to understand how these schemes are evolving and whether funding remains aligned with the need. Minister. Thank you Deputy. My department provides a suite of income supports to people with disabilities including disability allowance, blind pension, invalidity pension and partial capacity benefit. The disability allowance or DA is a means-tested payment for people who are substantially restricted from working because of their disability. Invalidity pension is a weekly social insurance benefit payment made to people who are regarded as being permanently incapable of work because of long-term illness or disability. As is the case with the majority of my department's schemes, expenditure on disability allowance and invalidity pension is demand-led. All applicants who meet the criteria of the schemes are entitled to a payment. There is no budget capital and if necessary, I bring forward supplementary estimates to address any situation where demand and costs exceed that set out in the annual estimates. The revised estimates, the 2025 expenditure allocation for the disability allowance is just under €2.4 billion. The allocation for invalidity pension is €817 million, a total of about €3.2 billion between them. Looking ahead to 2026, the equivalent figures that will be presented at the Euroclis are €2.6 billion for disability allowance and €0.8 billion for invalidity pension, which is a total of about €3.4 billion. As part of the budget of 2026, I was pleased to secure an increase of funding of nearly €200 million across both schemes compared to the 2025 allocations. These increases will provide for a €10 weekly increase to the maximum personal rate of payment on both schemes, with proportionate increases for qualified adults, those on reduced rates. The largest ever increase to the rate of child support payment at €8 per week in respect of children aged under 12, €16 per week in respect of children aged 12 and over. The extension of the back-to-work family dividend scheme to people on DA and blind pension. People moving from DA or blind pension to take up work will be able to retain their fuel allowance payment for five years. Thanks, Minister. I appreciate the figures you have outlined and the reference to the growing caseload and the broader demographic change. While expenditure is rising, so too are the challenges faced by those depending on supports. Is the Department examining any reforms administrative structure that would protect recipients while ensuring schemes remain sustainable? I suppose if we are moving towards a cost of disability payment, it is important that we focus our resources on people and on the actual cost of the disability and not every disability or person claiming disability or invalidity is the same. I suppose the concern lies with the experience in the UK where they have had an exponential rise in claims, most especially between young people between 16 and 24 in the area of social phobia, anxiety and mood disorder. I think sometimes we have to consider this in the round, access to services and getting people back into work, most especially young people. I think it is important to constantly keep all of our schemes in the Department under review and what the demand factors are. But in relation to disability, we are beginning the work as I said and that work is underway in what a permanent cost of disability payment will look like, both in terms of level and both in terms of those who qualify, people's experiences of disability is not uniform and that is a challenge to ensure that we ensure that those who need it are getting the most accurate payment, most accurate service from the Department. That is what I want to investigate over the course of the coming weeks and months in terms of our negotiations at our strategic focus forum and that will allow us to come back to the House with proposals in relation to a permanent cost of disability payment. I am also very focused on increasing opportunities for employment for people with a disability and I am looking at new models, a really interesting model with the Now Group in Belfast a number of weeks back, the Now Group who have prioritised and pioneered the Just A Minute card for people with disability in terms of services and how we increase the opportunities for those with disabilities to access employment, people who bring extraordinary talent and skill to any workplace that is lucky enough to have them in their workplace. Thank you. I am struck by being on the disability committee and having the witnesses coming in over the last 11 months of the quite the variable need for some people in terms of their disability and I am concerned that sometimes if we provide supports that are too thin to too many people that we need to have some nuance that we do support people and most especially people who have very very considerable need and it may not be addressed and also a need to get them into employment because as we know poverty associated with disability in this country is quite considerable and also unemployment for people who are disabled. So I suppose that is where my concern lies and I suppose in the longer term the cost of disability payment to people who have very considerable needs that would enable them back into the workforce both for their sakes most importantly but also for our sake as well. Yes sir. In relation to poverty clearly the cost of disability payment is going to be very focused on addressing that and making it as relevant as possible but I would say in relation to employment what I do want to see is that we open up our imagination in relation to employment opportunities for people with disability and that we offer more opportunities in the digital space, we offer more opportunities in the creativity space and that is why we are working, we have made some changes to the wage subsidy scheme to make it more efficient and more attractive, we are constantly working to provide opportunities for people with disability we had during the last work in skills week in October a specific careers fair in partnership with As I Am focusing on people with autism and the skills and the talents that they could bring to any organisation and there was a really really good response and I intend to expand that next year and Deputy Heenan just had an interesting proposal around employment opportunities here in the houses so in relation to employment I think we need to reimagine what the employment opportunities are for people with disabilities I think we are too reliant on maybe older models and I look forward to working with any organisation that can bring solutions to the table in that regard Thanks Minister Thank you