"The least we can expect": disability federation warns Budget 2027 will test Government's word as Ireland faces UN scrutiny

The Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) publishes its pre-Budget submission at a pivotal moment for disability rights 

DFI has today published its pre-Budget submission for 2027, "The least we can expect", at a moment it describes as one of real consequence for disabled people in Ireland. 

Budget 2027 will be framed against a crowded backdrop. This is the first full year of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030.

Ireland holds the EU Council Presidency from 1 July 2026, and a new Disability Unit now sits in the Department of the Taoiseach. In 2027, the State faces its first formal UN CRPD Committee hearing, twenty years after the Convention was adopted and seven years after Ireland ratified it. 

DFI CEO Elaine Teague underlined the importance of the moment, urging the Government to seize the opportunity to make good on its commitments.  

"Budget 2027 is the first real test of whether Government means what it has written," she said. "The rights set out in the Human Rights Strategy in 2025 were hard-won. Ireland will be measured against its commitments at the UN next year, and the Budget is part of how it will be judged."  

"Delivering on those rights is not the job of one department alone, it cuts across health, social protection, housing, transport and education, and every department has a part to play. Promises on paper do not change anyone's life. What we are asking for is not radical. It is the least that disabled people can expect." 

DFI's members support over one million people across Ireland every year and provide  services to approximately 429,000 people on behalf of the state.  

Chris Murphy, a stroke survivor from Cork Stroke Support, outlines what this means for the lived reality of disabled people. 

“I had my stroke just over five years ago, and as a result I haven't been able to work, he said. 

"For the first three years I couldn't drive because of my eyesight, so I was relying on public transport or taxis to get anywhere I needed to go. The cost of medication, capped at €80 a month, was another big expense on top of that. And it affected the whole family. We were down to one working wage, my wife's, with a lot of additional costs to carry. It costs a lot to cope with any disability, and that needs to be seen.” 

DFI's submission sets out the financial position facing disabled people. Disabled people face extra costs of between €11,046 and €15,617 per year, and Disability Allowance remains over €100 per week below the poverty line.

According to DFI, the removal of one-off supports in Budget 2026 caused net income losses of up to €1,264. CSO figures show that two in five people unable to work due to disability live in enforced deprivation. 

DFI Director of Advocacy, Emer Begley said the submission's asks are grounded in what members report every day. 

"The additional cost of disability to an individual in Ireland is relentless, and the figures speak for themselves," she said. 

"As a result of structural barriers, rising costs, and poorly integrated supports and service people are being pushed below the poverty line by costs they cannot avoid," she said. 

"We are calling for an emergency payment of at least €400 to address the supports stripped out last year, and a recurring Cost of Disability payment of €55 a week as an interim measure, while work continues to co-design a permanent payment. These are not abstract numbers. They decide whether someone can afford to heat their home, eat or get to a medical appointment." 

"Voluntary organisations are the mainstay of the disability support and services system, providing over two-thirds of services on behalf of the State, yet many are doing so under serious financial pressure. We need funding that sustains the base for disability supports across all state funded organisations, reflects the real cost of services, as well as multi-annual certainty so organisations can plan beyond the next twelve months." 

The submission's title draws on a statement by the Tánaiste in the Human Rights Strategy, that the least disabled people can expect is the same access to services and supports as everyone else. DFI's calls span disability services, mainstream healthcare access, Cost of Disability and poverty, community inclusion and transport, and accessible and affordable housing. 

"Ireland is about to take a seat at the head of the European table while disabled people at home continue to be pushed below the poverty line," said Ms Teague. "The Human Rights Strategy set out a vision. Budget 2027 is where that vision either becomes lived experience or remains words on a page." 

Read DFI's full Pre-Budget Submission.

ENDS