Roadmap for Social Inclusion Submission 2022
Issued on November 8 2022
People with disabilities have lived with shockingly, disproportionately high levels of poverty and low levels of employment for many years. This is due to a number of issues including structural barriers to securing and taking up employment and the significant additional cost of being disabled, as well as the fact that the basic design of our social protection system leaves thousands of people below the poverty line and unable to afford the essentials required for a decent standard of living.
The first Roadmap for Social Inclusion Progress Report and Report Card shows that Ireland is one of the worst performing countries in the EU in both these areas, ranking with much less well-off countries rather than the Western European countries we rank alongside on other social indicators. The mid-term review of the Roadmap thus offers an opportunity to reflect on disability poverty and its root causes, and to course correct and take action to address the issues. In order to deliver on its commitments in the Roadmap for Social Inclusion and the Programme for Government, the government must provide specific targeted increases in income and social protection supports to disabled people, in particular those who cannot work and live with many extra costs due to their disability.