Budget leaves disabled people and carers behind

Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD has today criticised the Government for abandoning disabled people and carers in Budget 2026. Speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, Deputy Bacik said the Budget represented “handouts for burger barons and big builders, but broken promises for everyone else.”

She called on the Government to introduce a Cost of Disability payment and to outline a clear pathway to abolish the Carer’s Allowance means test.

Deputy Bacik said:

“Yesterday’s Budget was a deep disappointment. It offered more to big builders than to families struggling to make ends meet. Students face a €500 fee increase. Parents saw no reduction in childcare costs. Families battling the cost-of-living crisis have been left with little relief. And for disabled people and carers, there was simply nothing.

“In Ireland, employment rates for people with disabilities are twenty per cent lower than the European average. One in five people unable to work due to disability live in consistent poverty. Our social protection system should step in to close that gap — but this Budget has failed to do so. The removal of one-off payments will cost disabled people around €1,400 a year. That’s not loose change; it’s money that keeps the lights on and pays for food, heating, and medication.

“Disabled people face extra costs every single day. Supports like the Disability Allowance, Living Alone Allowance, Fuel Allowance and Disability Support Grant are lifelines. Yet this Government has turned its back on them. In contrast, Labour’s Alternative Budget proposed a Cost of Disability payment of €25 per week and a 50% increase in Housing Adaptation Grant funding. These are practical, targeted steps that would make a real difference to people’s lives.

“We welcome the long-overdue increase in the Carer’s Allowance disregard — something my colleague Deputy Mark Wall has long campaigned for — but this must be accompanied by a plan to abolish the means test entirely. The Government promised this in the Programme for Government, yet there’s still no pathway. A €10 rise in core payments is derisory — it amounts to an hourly increase of less than six cents for someone providing 24-hour care. It’s simply not good enough.

“Government  have failed disabled people and carers. More than two thirds of caring families are struggling to cover food and energy bills. Half have already cut back on heating. Family Carers Ireland said it best: you’ve shifted the numbers, but not the reality. Labour would take a different path — one that values care, tackles poverty, and gives disabled people and carers the dignity, recognition and support they deserve. The Government must act now to right this wrong.”