People with disabilities and their families have been failed by Budget 2026, according to Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide.<\/p>\n
Deputy Quaide, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on disability, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has long been recognised that having a disability comes with significant additional financial pressures, including the costs of therapies, equipment and transport. Despite repeated calls from advocacy groups, such as Inclusion Ireland, to introduce a cost of disability payment, the government failed to implement this measure in yesterday\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats proposed a cost of disability payment in our alternative budget that would have amounted to \u20ac1,040 per year, as well as an additional \u20ac780 in Disability Allowance. The government has only increased Disability Allowance annually by \u20ac520, meaning disabled people are \u20ac1,300 worse off under this budget than they would have been under our proposals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe absence of a cost of disability payment is a glaring budget omission that leaves disabled people bearing an unfair financial burden.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe budget was also a missed opportunity to abolish the means test for Carer\u2019s Allowance. Thousands of carers are either shut out of this modest financial support because they have hard-earned savings or their partner\u2019s income pushes them over the eligibility threshold. Many live in fear of having the payment taken off them when their family\u2019s finances change even slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government should have abolished the means test this week and allowed thousands of family carers \u2013 the majority of whom are women \u2013 some peace of mind and certainty. Instead, they chose to tinker around the edges of this support and impose continued financial and administrative hardship on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, the government is pouring \u20ac20 million into funding outsourced Assessments of Need. At the same time, they are\u00a0applying crude recruitment restrictions to the very services in primary care that could provide a more streamlined pathway of assessment and intervention\u00a0for many of these children. This approach undermines the capacity of the HSE and leads to increased costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOutsourcing AONs is not only very costly but also compromises the quality and continuity of care for children with additional needs. It creates a \u2018perverse incentive\u2019 for clinicians to leave the public service and take on lucrative private clinical work \u2013 thereby further hollowing out HSE services and preventing them from developing. It\u2019s worth pointing out that \u20ac20 million is the equivalent of 453 years\u2019 worth of the annual starting salary of an occupational therapist.<\/p>\n
“The government’s overall failure to address these critical issues in Budget 2026 reflects a lack of real commitment to family carers and people with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
October 8, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" People with disabilities and their families have been failed by Budget 2026, according to Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide. Deputy Quaide, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on disability, said: \u201cIt has long been recognised that having a disability comes with significant additional financial pressures, including the costs of therapies, equipment and transport. Despite repeated calls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[735,739,499,652,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget-2026","category-carers-allowance","category-disability","category-liam-quaide","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n