Budget 2026: Spotlight on Disability

I am delighted to publish this first budget spotlight report outlining how Budget 2026 begins delivering on the Government’s commitment to disabled people in line with the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. This Strategy sets out an ambitious five-year programme to address the barriers disabled people face in daily life. Budget 2026 marks the first step in turning that vision into reality.

Supporting disabled people is a central focus of this Government, as we recognise that disabled people face a variety of challenges in our society. To drive accountability and ensure progress I established the Disability Unit in my Department to bring a renewed focus, accountability and urgency to disability issues. As part of this work, the Unit will work to support a cohesive and comprehensive approach to disability over the next four Budgets.

As outlined in this budget spotlight report, Budget 2026 marks a first step in delivering on our commitment to disabled people and their families. This includes a particular focus on investing in badly needed services. The record €3.8 billion allocation to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for specialist disability services, representing a 20% year on year increase, will stabilise funding and investment in disability services and ensure the expansion of a range of essential supports nationwide.

This will mean enhanced therapy services and other specialised supports for approximately 45,000 children through local Children’s Disability Network Teams. The funding allocated will also provide for the recruitment of 150 additional staff for these Teams. Funding of €20 million is also being provided for the continued support of the Assessment of Need Targeted Waitlist Initiative delivering approximately 6,000 clinical assessments.

Most disabled people are supported through mainstream supports and services, and it is therefore equally important that we continue to invest in these. Budget 2026 supports a range of such measures, such as the €48 million investment in the new Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Plus scheme, increases in the Child Support Payment, and significant additional investment in our health system.

A whole-of-Government approach is central to our work. Every department, across Government, must continue to play its part in creating an inclusive Ireland, one in which all disabled people are supported to thrive and to be full participants in our society.

Budget 2026 is the starting point for this journey.

Micheál Martin T.D.

Taoiseach

The government wants to better support disabled people because we know that disabled people face different challenges.

We want all the different parts of government to work more closely together. That is why the Taoiseach has created the Disability Unit.

The Disability Unit will work with all parts of government to improve how they tackle disability issues. The Disability Unit has put together this first budget spotlight report with the help of other parts of government. This report describes how Budget 2026 will improve the lives of disabled people in Ireland. Budget 2026 is the government’s plan for how to spend public money in the coming year.

Disability is a big part of Budget 2026. The budget has given the most money ever to fund disability services. Some of this will be used to help disabled children and their families. For example, the budget will pay for more people to work with disabled people and their families, and pay for more teachers and open new classes for disabled students. More disabled people will be helped to live in their own homes and go to college and to work.

Budget 2026 will also help disabled people who cannot work by giving them more money every week.

The Disability Unit will continue to work with all the different parts of government to improve the lives of disabled people in Ireland.

This first budget spotlight report looks at how Budget 2026 seeks to improve the lives of disabled people. The report was prepared by the Disability Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach. The Unit was established by the Taoiseach in 2025 to strengthen cross-departmental collaboration, drive innovation, accelerate policy delivery, and simplify and improve services for disabled people and their families.

Improving the lives of disabled people and enabling them to reach their full potential is a central priority for Government. In September, the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 was launched, setting out Ireland’s plan to further advance the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Under this Strategy, individual government departments and state agencies are responsible for planning and delivering commitments across five key pillars.

Since Budget 2026 was announced, the Disability Unit has engaged with government departments to gather information on how each department’s budget allocation will affect disabled people’s lives in the coming year. Based on the submitted material, this Budget 2026 spotlight report outlines the planned targeted as well as mainstream investments that are likely to positively impact disabled people throughout 2026.

The report aligns investment with the five pillars of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030.

• Pillar 1 – Inclusive Learning and Education
• Pillar 2 – Employment
• Pillar 3 – Independent Living and Active Participation in Society
• Pillar 4 – Wellbeing and Health
• Pillar 5 – Transport and Mobility

In addition to these pillars, cross-cutting issues, such as the Cost of Disability, are being tackled under three Strategic Focus Networks to facilitate strategic engagement and joined-up thinking.

This report does not aim to capture all measures which affect disabled people in the recent budget but provides an overview of the most significant new and increased investments included in Budget 2026 that are directly relevant to improving their lives.

Census 2022 shows that the presentation of disability in Ireland is complex: over one in five people report having a disability, yet only a smaller proportion - just under 8%- experience it to a great extent. This highlights the diverse and nuanced nature of disability across the population.

The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 is designed to respond to this reality by strengthening core disability services, broadening access to mainstream services, and enabling full participation in society. This budget spotlight report therefore covers both targeted and mainstream investments.

Delivering on the Strategy’s ambition requires a whole-of-Government, cross-departmental, approach to disability budgeting, ensuring that resources are aligned, coordinated, and responsive to the full spectrum of needs.

The Disability Unit will build on this analysis in future reports by publishing an annual budget spotlight report, shedding light on how the budget delivers for disabled people, while also working with departments to ensure a strong focus on disability in future budgets.

Budget 2026 provided the first opportunity for the Government to demonstrate its commitment to implementing the new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People. The analysis of cross-departmental initiatives presented in this budget spotlight report shows that Budget 2026 - the first for this Government - saw important initial steps across all five pillars to support disabled people throughout their lives.

Budget 2026 saw a particularly strong focus on investment in both disability and mainstream services. This includes an unprecedented increase of 20% in investment in disability services, which will improve the sustainability of the sector and enhance disability service models across the life cycle from children to adults. In addition, Budget 2026 contained specific social protection measures aimed at supporting households with disabilities, such as increases in weekly rates and amendments to income disregards.

Budget 2026: Beyond GDP [1] , a report prepared by the Department of Finance, which looked at the impact for disabled people of a select set of measures [2] in Budget 2026, found a relative positive impact of these measures on disabled people and their families. It found that, because of the suite of measures introduced, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for the whole population falls by 1.7% with the largest reductions for older people (-6.2%) and the population affected by disability (-3.8%).

While Budget 2026 saw significantly increased investment in the provision of specialised disability services and permanent increases to social protection payments, analysis prepared by the ESRI suggests that the ending of temporary supports, introduced in previous budgets, will negatively impact low income households, including those with disabilities.[3] However targeted and sustained increases in core social protection payments along with progress towards the phasing out of the Carer’s Allowance means test will have a particular relevance for those lowest income families, including many disabled people

The Government has committed to delivering on the ambitions of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 by the end of the decade. To support this, the Government’s four remaining Budgets will be used to progress the Strategy’s wide-ranging commitments across its five Pillars. These Budgets will also deliver on joined-up solutions identified under the Strategic Focus Networks, with targeted actions under Spotlight policy areas and progress on capacity strengthening commitments. Budget 2026 provides a foundation, and future Budgets are expected to build on this progress to ensure disabled people are supported, empowered, and enabled to fully participate in their communities and society.

Looking ahead to Budget 2027, the Disability Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach will continue to collaborate with departments over the course of 2026 to ensure the budget process progresses the Government’s commitments to disabled people and their families. The Unit will also continue to publish an annual budget spotlight report. This annual report will track and communicate cross-government progress across the five Pillars and other structures, gathering data on the ongoing delivery of the Government’s commitments to disabled people

Based on information provided by Government departments, this spotlight report outlines significant measures announced in the Budget which are relevant to disabled people and their families. It details targeted disability measures under each of the five Pillars of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People, while also highlighting key mainstream initiatives that will benefit disabled people. In doing so, the report aims to spotlight the breadth of Government actions that, taken together, seek to improve the lives of disabled people and their families.

Education plays a vital role in shaping a person’s life opportunities and potential. While supports for disabled children and young people have increased across early learning, mainstream schooling, and further education, considerable gaps remain in outcomes and attainment. The Government aims to create an inclusive education system where disabled learners of all ages are empowered to thrive academically and socially, transition smoothly between education levels and settings, and pursue their education, career and life goals on an equal basis with others.

Disability specific measures in Budget 2026 include:

• A 6.4% increase in the Early Learning and Childcare allocation to support approximately 8,400 children with disabilities and additional needs to access the Early Childhood Care and Education Programme (ECCE) (a free, universal, two-year preschool programme) through the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM), which provides additional supports for inclusive pre-schools.
• The increased allocation supports the full expansion of AIM to ECCE-age children beyond time spent in the ECCE programme (both in term and out of term), as well as a 10% increase in the rate for AIM Level 7 (which provides additional funding to preschools to accommodate children who need extra support), introduced from October 2025.
• Budget 2026 saw an allocation of €3 billion to special education from an overall education allocation of €13.1 billion. This will benefit approximately 250,000 children in the school system which present with a special educational need, including the approximate 31,000 children attending special schools or special classes in mainstream schools.

• This allocation will provide for:

• • an additional 860 teachers for special education, working in special classes and special schools, as well as special education teachers in mainstream settings.
  • up to a further 3,000 special class and special school places for the 2026/27 school year.
  • 1,717 additional Special Needs Assistants (SNAs), bringing the total number of SNAs in schools to almost 24,900.
• €16 million to continue the roll out of school therapy services within special schools and phased expansion into mainstream schools - this is an increase on the initial €3 million allocation for the service in 2025.
• Additional funding to support the provision of Educational Psychological Services in mainstream and special schools and special classes, the National Council for Special Education, Enhanced Capitation funding for Special Classes and Special Schools, and Special Education Need/ Disability Related grants.
• An additional €2 million (to €7.7 million) to broaden the scope of the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) to also include transport support for learners with intellectual disabilities on a broader range of Further Education and Training (FET) courses and programmes beyond Post Leaving Certificate courses.
• An additional €1 million to ensure disabled students have the necessary equipment and assistance to participate in higher education institutions.

In addition to these disability-specific measures, disabled people and their families will benefit from a range of mainstream initiatives announced in Budget 2026. These include a record €1.48 billion investment in early learning and childcare, aimed at reducing costs for families and strengthening supports for staff and providers, a €48 million investment in the new Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools (DEIS) Plus scheme which will support pupils most at risk of educational disadvantage, both in DEIS and non-DEIS schools, the allocation of €1.6 billion in capital expenditure to advance over 200 school building projects currently at construction stage, and amendments to the income threshold for the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) student contribution grant and the permanent reduction by €500 of the third level student contribution fee.

Disabled people in Ireland face persistent barriers to employment and economic security, with poverty rates significantly higher than the general population. Many encounter challenges accessing work, particularly those with mental health conditions, intellectual disabilities or neurodivergence, and concerns about losing benefits can discourage jobseeking. Evidence shows that households affected by disability are more likely than other household types to be at risk of poverty. The Central Statistics Office, using its annual poverty data, found that in 2024 for people unable to work due to long-standing illness or disability 1 in 5 live in consistent poverty, nearly four times the national average. Addressing this challenge will require a broad set of measures, both disability specific and mainstream, and will be reflected across Pillar 2 and Pillar 3 of the Strategy. The ambition of the Government is to close the disability employment gap by improving access to education, skills development, and inclusive workplaces, while ensuring income supports are in place to enable disabled people to live with dignity and independence. This is in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Disability specific measures in Budget 2026 include:

• An increase in the base rate of the Wage Subsidy Scheme, provided to employers to support the employment of disabled people, by €1.20 from €6.30 to €7.50 per hour, the top rate to €10 per hour and a middle rate of €8.50. These are the first rate increases since 2022 and will come into effect in April 2026.
• These increases in the Wage Subsidy Scheme, at an estimated cost €3.1 million in 2026 and €4.1 million in a full year, are expected to support 1,500 employers and 2,500 employees in 2026. The total expected expenditure on the Wage Subsidy Scheme in 2026 is €26 million.
• The Wage Subsidy Scheme is also to be expanded to three additional groups of disabled people at an expected cost of €1.3 million:
  • Workers who have acquired a disability within the last 12 months which reduces their ability to work and as a result their job’s tasks or role has had to be significantly adapted by the employer.
  • Workers with a degenerative or progressive condition whose ability to work has reduced in the last 12 months to the extent that their job’s tasks or role has had to be significantly adapted by the employer.
  • People who have been in receipt of Invalidity Pension for any duration and who transfer to Partial Capacity Benefit.
• People on Disability Allowance and Blind Pension will be allowed to retain a Fuel Allowance for a period of 5 years if they leave their payment to take up employment (to take effect from September 2026). This is a new measure and expected to cost €0.34 million in 2026.
• The Back to Work Family Dividend is to be extended to recipients of both Blind Pension and Disability Allowance (with children) who move off those payments and into employment.
• €1.3 million for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to support Social Farming. Social Farming is the practice of offering farming and horticultural participation opportunities to people who avail of a range of therapeutic day support services.

In addition to these disability-specific measures, disabled people will also benefit from measures intended to support Ireland’s economic development, and the €0.65 per hour increase in the National Minimum Wage, which will impact an estimated 200,000 workers earning the National Minimum Wage.

Disabled people in Ireland continue to face significant barriers to living independently and fully participating in their communities. Many report challenges with everyday activities such as getting around, enjoying leisure time, or simply leaving their homes. Participation in arts and sports remains notably lower among disabled people compared to others. A number of disabled adults under the age of 65 continue to be inappropriately placed in nursing homes, and many others rely on ageing family members - often ageing parents - for daily support. Access to personal assistance, inclusive housing, and community-based supports is essential to enabling choice, autonomy, and inclusion. The ambition of this Government is to ensure that disabled people can live independently and participate fully in society, with equal access to arts, culture, sport, and community life, in line with their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Disability specific measures in Budget 2026 include:

Disability Services and Individual Supports

• An allocation of €3.8 billion to Disability Services for delivery by the HSE, a 20% increase year-on-year, to provide a stable base upon which to plan and expand services and to expand residential care, respite, personal assistance and home support hours in 2026.
• This includes approximately €2.21 billion to deliver residential services for over 9,000 disabled people, and investment of €65 million in the development of additional residential responses and supports for adults and children with disabilities in 2026, enabling them to live as independently as possible in their local communities.
• Provision of over 10,000 extra nights respite and 15,000 further day respite sessions. In addition, home sharing services will be further developed as a viable respite alternative.
• €43 million in Capital funding to support specialist community-based disability services, representing a €16 million increase in funding on 2025.
• €10 million in funding to support the transition of people under the age of 65 currently residing in nursing homes to supported community settings.
• Day services will be expanded with an additional €24.5 million, providing approximately 1,400 new places for disabled students leaving school.
• In addition to funding for disability home support and Personal Assistance, an estimated €82 million has been allocated in additional funding for home support for older people, increasing the target to 27 million hours for next year, including complex home support discharges from the National Rehabilitation Hospital.

Social Protection Package

In addition to the measures listed under Pillar 2 disabled people and carers will also benefit from other elements of an extensive social protection package including:

• From January 2026, carers will see an increase in the monthly Domiciliary Care Allowance, rising by €20 to €380. This will benefit approximately 73,000 children, with expected expenditure in 2026 of €318 million.
• From July 2026, the weekly Carer's Allowance income disregard will increase to €1,000 for a single person (up from €625) and €2,000 for a couple (up from €1,250), while the weekly income limit for Carer’s Benefit will rise by €375 to €1,000 reflecting enhanced financial support for those providing care. The increase in the disregard is expected to benefit 3,000 carers. While demand led, the expected expenditure for 2026 for Carers Allowance is €1.4 billion.
• An increase in the Fuel Allowance from €5 to €38 per week (providing an additional €140 during the annual fuel allowance season).

Housing and Local Authorities

• €130 million capital investment (an increase from €99.5 million in 2025) under the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with Disabilities, which is expected to respond to approximately 8,000 claims under the Housing Adaption Grants for Disabled People and Mobility Aids Grants, and approximately 9,000 grant claims under the Housing Aids for Older People Grant.
• €28.5 million capital allocation (an increase of €3.5 million on 2025) to support adaption works to approximately 1,800 existing Social Homes under the Disabled Persons Grants/Improvements/Remedial Works.
• Between €1.5 - €2 million allocation to the Universal Access Programme under the Office of Public Works (OPW) to carry out works under Section 25 of the Disability Act 2005 ensuring public buildings are accessible to persons with disabilities.

Participation in Social Cultural Life

• A number of measures to support accessibility in the Tourism Sector will be overseen by Fáilte Ireland;
  • €295,000 for the Inclusive Tourism Capability Programme,
  • €2.8 million in capital funding to drive digital inclusion by funding accessibility enhancements across websites and digital content for up to 300 tourism SMEs, creating an inclusive online experience for disabled service users, and
  • €2.5 million capital funding to support the roll out of accessibility initiatives as part of the Platform for Growth- Water Sport Facilities. This includes Changing Places provision, accessibility to the facility and accessibility to the water.
• Funding for the recruitment of Inclusivity Officers to support inclusion in child and youth participation structures funded by the Department of Children, Equality and Disability.
• Funding for a toolkit by Hub na nÓg for including children and young people with disabilities in decision-making.
• €1 million to support safe walking and accessible facilities as per the Healthy Ireland Walking Track Project.

The Government has also allocated €600,000 to progress the development of the National Disability Survey by the Central Statistics Office, including roll out of a pilot survey in 2026, to better inform policymaking.

In addition to these disability specific measures, disabled people and their families will also benefit from a range of mainstream measures announced in Budget 2026. These measures include substantial investment in housing provision, with housing capital investment of over €9 billion, €670 million to support local authorities, an increase of €80 million on funding from the Local Government Fund, and significant additional investment in policing and justice provision including a €2.59 billion allocation for An Garda Síochána and €214.8 million for the Courts, of which €71.5 million is capital funding.

Disabled people will also benefit from other social protection measures announced in the budget including the increased weekly rate of the Child Support Payment (an increase of €16 to €78 for children aged 12 and over and an increase of €8 to €58 for children under 12) and the increases to core social protection rates (an increase of €10 per week bringing the maximum personal rate to €254 per week). The increase in the Child Support payment will be paid in respect of a total of approximately 114,000 children living in a household with a disabled adult. The increases to core social protection payments are expected to benefit approximately 371,000 recipients on disability relevant schemes [4] with expected expenditure of €5.7 billion in 2026. The payment of the Christmas Bonus in December 2025 to those on disability relevant schemes will see support of €98.7 million provided.

Evidence shows that disabled people in Ireland experience significantly poorer health outcomes than the general population. Census 2022 data confirm disabled people are far less likely to report very good health and more likely to rate their health as poor.

These inequalities affect people across a range of disabilities, including physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental health conditions. For example, individuals with intellectual disabilities face particularly high rates of mental health challenges and poor oral health, while others may encounter barriers to accessing timely and appropriate healthcare.

The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 aims to address these disparities by ensuring equal access to mainstream health and wellbeing services, alongside the additional supports needed to improve health outcomes and quality of life.

Under this Pillar, the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 commits to the following:

Accessible Health Services

We will create a more accessible and inclusive mainstream health service for disabled people.

Safeguarding

We will ensure that disabled people are treated with respect and dignity, have their welfare promoted and receive support in an environment in which every effort is made to promote welfare and prevent abuse.

Health Promotion and Wellbeing

We will enhance disabled people’s overall health and wellbeing.

Youth Mental Health

We will ensure that all disabled children and young people are supported to access the mental health services they need.

Supporting all Disabled Children and their Families

We will achieve a quality, accessible, equitable and timely service for all disabled children and their families based on their needs.

Oral Health

We will ensure that disabled children and adults can benefit from improved access to oral healthcare.

Screening Services

We will ensure that disabled people are made aware of the supports available to them in accessing the National Screening Service through improved targeted promotion.

Audiology Services

We will ensure that disabled children and adults who develop hearing loss can benefit from appropriate and timely interventions .

Disability specific measures in Budget 2026 include:

• €8.3 million to address waiting lists for children across primary care services, which includes funding for the continuation of the Primary Care Psychology Waiting List Initiative to target the removal of 3,000 clients from the waiting list in 2026.
• An additional 300 staff will be hired in mental health services in 2026, to improve access to supports, promote positive mental health, early interventions and recovery, and to deliver improved responses to people experiencing a crisis.
• Funding to recruit 150 additional staff for Children’s Disability Network Teams. Investment in children’s disability services will provide therapy services and other specialised supports for approximately 45,000 children through local Children’s Disability Network Teams.
• Funding of €20 million for the continued support of the Assessment of Need Targeted Waitlist Initiative through the provision of approximately 6,000 clinical assessments.
• An additional €2 million for the Meals on Wheels scheme, helping older people and people with a disability to live independently.
• Funding to provide for 461 additional health and social care training places to increase the skills pipeline and support current and future workforce needs. This includes support for clinical placements.
• Continued implementation of the recommendations from the National Screening Services disability needs assessment report (2023), providing disability awareness and Reasonable Accommodation Training for new staff across the HSE National Screening Services in 2026

In addition to these disability specific measures, disabled people and their families will also benefit from a range of mainstream health measures announced in Budget 2026, including the record level of investment in the health system of €27.4 billion, an increase of 6.2% from 2025, which will have a particular focus on reducing regional disparity and better meeting patient needs.

The ambition of this Government is to ensure that disabled people can participate fully and equally in society by creating an accessible, affordable, and sustainable transport system and built environment. Accessible transport is essential for social and economic inclusion, yet many disabled people continue to face barriers to mobility. Achieving equitable access requires a whole-of-journey approach, underpinned by Universal Design and supported by cross-government collaboration. In addition to improving public transport, the need for personal mobility options for those who cannot use standard services is recognised, ensuring all disabled people have real access to education, employment, and community life.

Disability specific measures in Budget 2026 include:

• Disabled people will benefit from significant capital investment being delivered, with all new public transport projects designed with accessibility in mind, supporting greater inclusion and mobility for disabled people.
• Key initiatives in this regard include BusConnects, which will enhance the accessibility of buses, bus stops, and payment systems, MetroLink, which will follow Universal Design principles throughout its development, and the Cork Area Commuter Rail, which will significantly enhance accessible transport options in the region.
• A €25 million allocation to the transport Retrofit Programme which includes projects to deliver bus and train accessibility improvements and to increase the numbers of wheelchair accessible public service vehicles.
• An allocation increase of approx. €2 million (to €13 million) to the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme Fuel Grant.
• Additional investment of €69 million in the School Transport Scheme which will benefit 26,700 students with disabilities.

Disabled people and their families will also benefit from the further support for subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland and targeted fares - including initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of 9, and the Young Adult Card for those aged 19-25.