Disability, Income and Poverty

Issued on December 20 2024

General Information

Ireland ranks 20th in the EU for disability poverty (32.7%), with an “at risk of poverty or social exclusion by level of disability (activity limitation)” rate 4% above the EU average (28.8%).[3]
There are currently 165,930 recipients of Disability Allowance.[4]
The basic annual income provided by Disability Allowance in 2024 was €12,064.[5]

Disability Costs

The Indecon Cost of Disability in Ireland report established that disabled people live with extra costs of approximately €8,700 - €12,300 a year, that are not covered by existing social welfare provision.[6] Adjusted for subsequent inflation, the Cost of Disability is in the range of €10,490 - €14,830.[7]
The report also shows that:
people also had unaffordable extra costs of €2,706 a year.[8]
- The extra costs increase with the number of disabilities or chronic illnesses, with extra costs of €23,610 for those reporting 10 disabilities or illnesses.[9]
- The highest average cost was in the range of €47,819.
- Amongst those disabled people surveyed for the report, a clear majority said that extra income would be most helpful to them in addressing these extra costs - 58% said this would be most helpful, while 31% said better services would be most helpful.

Disability and Poverty

The CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2023 data show that, of people unable to work due to long-standing health problems (disability):
- Over 1 in 4 (27.3%) are at risk of poverty, compared to the national average of 10.6%.[10]
- 1 in 5 (19.8%) live in consistent poverty, despite comprising only 4.3% of the population.[11]
- Almost 1 in 2 (44.7%) experience enforced deprivation – meaning they cannot afford essentials.^[12] The national average, by contrast, is 17.3%.[13]
The data also show that people unable to work due to long-standing health problems (disability):
- Live with severe and increasing deprivation - the deprivation rate has increased by nearly 8% in two years.
- Nearly 1 in 6 are unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm (16.1%), compared to 1 in 20 (5%) employed people and 4.5% of retired people.[14]
- Are almost 3 times more likely (35%) than the national average (12.3%) to be unable to afford to have family or friends for a drink or meal once a month, and almost 4 times more likely (18.7%) than the average (5.2%) to be unable to afford to buy presents for friends of family once a year.

Employment

Ireland’s disability employment gap of 37%, is one of the worst in Europe, much higher than the EU average of 21%.[15]
The total number of people in the country aged 15 and over and at work in 2022 was 2.3 million (56% of all people aged 15 and over). By comparison, just over 346,000 people (34%) aged 15 and over experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty were at work.[16]
The employment rate for disabled people is 49%, compared to the employment rate for the general population of 71%. Looking closer, 60% of people with disabilities ‘to some extent’ are employed, which drops to 27% of people with disabilities ‘to a great extent’ in employment.[17]
The Higher Education Authority’s Graduate Outcomes and Disability Report (2023) shows that graduates with disabilities were more represented in each of the lower salary bands; up to salaries of €20,000-€24,999.[18]

[3] Eurostat, (2024) Statistics | Eurostat (europa.eu) - Ireland’s disability poverty rate is currently at 32.7%, placing it 20 out of 27.

[4] Department of Social Protection (2024) Quarterly Statistical Report, p. 7.

[5] Citizens Information, Disability Allowance (citizensinformation.ie) - At the personal rate of €232 paid weekly over 52 weeks.

[7] CPI Inflation Calculator interactive comparison app | CSO Ireland - Inflation calculated from Jan 2020 to June 2024, the exact Cost of Disability is €10,491.79 - €14,833.21 representing a 20.6% increase.

[11] Ibid

[13] Ibid