Introducing a new so-called cost-of-disability payment is a key priority for Budget 2027, social protection minister Dara Calleary has said. Mr Calleary said there would be regular meetings between his department and disability organisations, with a particular focus on one-on-one meetings. He said there are proposals for a direct second-tier child benefit, which would see people on the Child Support Payment lose out. We can’t have a situation where people in the lowest incomes are going to lose because we introduced the second-tier payment. On universal payments, Mr Calleary said it was “very difficult” politically to move to more targeted interventions compared to previous budgets.

Source: Irish Examiner December 31, 2025 06:02 UTC