Pre-Budget Submission 2027 to Department of Social Protection

Issued on June 30 2026

DFI has published its Pre-Budget Submission 2027 to the Department of Social Protection, setting out what Budget 2027 must do to tackle disability poverty and finally deliver a Cost of Disability payment.

Disabled people are being left behind

Disabled people in Ireland are disproportionately likely to live in poverty and deprivation. The latest CSO figures show that people unable to work due to disability face an at-risk-of-poverty rate of 28.4%, more than double the national average, and a deprivation rate four times higher than that of employed people. Without one-off cost-of-living measures, the at-risk-of-poverty rate would rise to 36.3%.

Behind these numbers is daily hardship, including people going without heating, unable to afford healthy food, and cut off from socialising and community life. Almost one in five went without heating at some point last year.

The Cost of Disability gap

Being disabled carries significant extra costs, now estimated at between €11,046 and €15,617 a year. Yet the basic weekly income from Disability Allowance is just €254, more than €100 below the poverty line and, in some cases, covering less than half of a person's additional disability-related costs.

After three years of the Disability Support Grant, Budget 2026 withdrew all one-off supports with nothing to replace them, leaving some disabled people up to €1,264 worse off. This must be corrected.

What DFI is calling for in Budget 2027

DFI is asking Government and the Department of Social Protection to prioritise action on disability poverty, including:

  • An emergency payment of at least €400 to replace the gap left by the removal of the Disability Support Grant
  • A recurring, universal, non-taxable Cost of Disability payment of €55 a week as an interim step, with a graduated scheme co-designed with disabled people over time
  • An increase of at least €15 to core social protection rates, with welfare rates indexed annually above the poverty line
  • An increase in the Disability Allowance income disregard to €1,000, plus action on the structural barriers to employment
  • Fairer means-testing that assesses only a disabled person's own income, not that of family members they live with
  • Action on energy poverty, including a €4 increase to the Fuel Allowance and wider eligibility
  • A three-year, cross-departmental Action Plan on Cost of Disability, co-designed with disabled people.

Now is the time

Ireland is a wealthy country with strong public and political support for tackling disability poverty. 91% of people agree more should be done to help disabled people meet their extra costs of living. With Ireland's first UN CRPD review due in 2027, Budget 2027 is the moment to act.

Ireland can be a leader on the Cost of Disability. Budget 2027 must take the first step.