Budget 2027: Dara Calleary vows to build on new cost-of-disability payment 

Social protection minister said the new €500 payment 'needs to be co-designed... with the input of disabled people themselves, and that's what we're going to do'

Social protection minister Dara Calleary: 'We are not, in the first year, in a position to respond to the entire cost. My first job this year was to get [the cost-of-disability support] in as a budget line.' Picture: Alexis Haultot/EP

A new €500 cost-of-disability support, delivered as part of Budget 2027, is expected to be paid out in February.

Social welfare changes, along with the new payment, will mean that 180,000 people with disabilities will be €1,030 better off in 2027.

When combined with other increases, the changes will mean that 28,583 people who receive disability allowance, fuel allowance, living alone allowance and the household benefits package will receive €17,416 in supports next year, an increase of €1,174.

Campaigners and disability groups have welcomed the roll-out of the support but expressed disappointment around the level of payment.

Responding, social protection minister Dara Calleary said: "We are not in the first year in a position to respond to the entire cost. My first job this year was to get it in as a budget line. This is a permanent cost. It won't depend on budget negotiations on a year-to-year basis."

He stressed that getting the assistance in place was an achievement in itself and building on this will be the priority in the coming 12 months.

"The payment needs to be co-designed in as far as possible with the input of disabled people themselves, and that's what we're going to do. That process is taking time, more than I anticipated. I want to try and work with people in as far as I can and by the end of 2027, we will have a permanent structure on our cost of disability payment," he said.

The Irish Wheelchair Association said the initial payment is far below the minimum call for €55 a week which the organisation had called for.

The overall social protection budget package is worth over €30 billion, an increase of €2 billion on 2026.

€10 more for pensioners and other welfare recipients

A €10 across-the-board increase in social welfare rates has also been announced as part of the social welfare package, benefiting 1.6m people receiving weekly State supports, including jobseekers, pensioners, carers and people receiving disability payments.

The state contributory pension will exceed €300 for the first time, increasing to €309.30.

Mr Calleary also secured €380m to fund the Christmas Bonus, which will be paid in December 2026 to almost 1.4m long-term social welfare recipients.

A €5 increase in the weekly fuel allowance has been confirmed, and pensioners living alone can now have an income of up to €641 a week and still benefit from the support. This is up from €534.

The €3 increase in the living alone allowance has also been confirmed.

Mr Calleary said: "Within the Government’s first two budgets, we have already increased the carer’s allowance disregard for singles and couples by 84%. 

"As a result, a couple on over €126,000 will now be able to get a full payment without being in any way affected by the means test. They will in fact be able to earn over €155,000 and still receive a partial payment."

The package includes further increases to the child support payment benefiting some 330,000 children, with a weekly increase of €6 for children under and over 12 years, bringing the payment to €64 and €84 per week respectively.

Further measures to tackle child poverty have also been secured, including a €30 increase in weekly income thresholds for working family payment for all family sizes, worth up to €18 per week which will assist low-income families, many of whom are lone parent households. In addition, the holiday hunger programme, initially a pilot, will now become a permanent initiative, benefitting over 40,000 children.

• Elaine Loughlin, Political Editor