Cost-of-disability payment a priority for 2026, says social protection minister

Dara Calleary said he wanted to see a budget proposal provided to him before the summer

Dara Calleary said there would be regular meetings between his department and disability organisations, with a particular focus on one-on-one meetings. Picture: Conor McKeown

Introducing a new so-called cost-of-disability payment is a key priority for Budget 2027, social protection minister Dara Calleary has said.

Mr Calleary said work is already under way, with meetings between the Department of Social Protection and disabled persons’ organisations on how it could work taking place in early December. The Government agreed for the first time in 2021 that there are extra costs to having a disability. The cost-of-disability payment refers to the extra expenses that disabled people must factor in every year, with up to €15,000 incurred by some.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Calleary said he wanted to see a budget proposal provided to him before the summer.

“It’s going to be challenging to get an agreement on what that [payment] looks like but we want to work towards that and try to capture all of the costs within it,” Mr Calleary said. 

The permanent cost-of-disability is one of my key priorities for 2026 within the department.

Mr Calleary said there would be regular meetings between his department and disability organisations, with a particular focus on one-on-one meetings.

He said the Government and Taoiseach Micheál Martin were “very focused on disability”. He added: “I’m also focused on creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities. We’ve made changes to the wage subsidy scheme. I’ve made changes to support employers to take on people with disabilities.

“I’d say to any employer, ‘You’re missing something if you’re not looking at people with disabilities and the skills and the talents they have and can bring to your organisation.’ 

"We really want to work to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities right across the economy.”

On introducing a second tier of child benefit, Mr Calleary argued that the Government has effectively done so with increases to the Child Support Payment. He said for children who are 12 and over, it is €4,056 per year, while it is €3,016 a year for children under 12.

“That’s effectively a second-tier payment for the lowest-income families in the country,” he added.

He said there are proposals for a direct second-tier child benefit, which would see people on the Child Support Payment lose out.

We can’t have a situation where people in the lowest incomes are going to lose because we introduced the second-tier payment.

“We’re going to address all of those issues in the context of the proposal but, as of now, I’ve delivered for 2026, starting January 1, record increases in the Child Support Payment and they will make a difference.”

Asked if he believed there is an argument for increasing the general payment rates of child benefit, Mr Calleary said the Government looks at where the costs are.

“The costs are at school, so free school books, free school meals at primary level. We look at directly targeting the big costs. Everything is looked at in the context of every budget and we will have that debate in the context of Budget 2027.”

Currently, child benefit is paid out at a rate of €140 per month per child up to the age of 16, or 19 if the child is in full-time education or training.

On universal payments, Mr Calleary said it was “very difficult” politically to move to more targeted interventions compared to previous budgets.