Sinn Féin has a vision for a society in which all citizens can play a full and independent part in all aspects of life. Where people can rely on tailored disability supports for mainstream services such as health, education, and employment.

In Government, Sinn Féin will tackle the appallingly high rate of poverty and enforced deprivation across households headed by a person with a disability.

The extra costs of having a disability are significant and are a key factor perpetuating poverty among people with disabilities. The cost of living crisis has exacerbated the financial hardship faced by people with disabilities. One-off payments alone are insufficient. Core weekly rates must be increased to begin to cover the long-recognised additional costs to which disability gives rise.

A Sinn Féin government would invest in people with disabilities.. We would implement an unprecedented investment programme to deliver a rights-based approach to disability services.

Delivering on the Disability Capacity Review, we would provide for unmet and future need, and fund therapies, respite services, residential care and de-congregation, personal assistance services, home support hours, day services, and access to specialist and mainstream community services.

The failure of government to ensure housing is affordable is driving an exodus of critical staff and undermining already stretched services. Their failure to address the housing crisis has fed into extremely high rates of vacancy across children’s disability network teams and teachers being pulled from special education roles.

Carers are the backbone of our society. Every day they look after and care for some of our most vulnerable citizens. The unpaid caring work of many family carers goes unrecognised. In addition to increasing the rate of payment for the Carer’s Allowance, Sinn Féin are determined to abolish the means test.

Waiting lists for disability services are incredibly long; personal assistance services are limited; financial supports for people with disabilities and family carers are inadequate. Even more, the cost of living crisis has exacerbated the financial hardship faced by people with disabilities. There is an urgent need to guarantee full equality for people with disabilities and make their rights a reality.

Our vision for Dublin includes:

• Implementing an unprecedented investment programme to deliver a rights-based approach to disability services, including fund therapies, respite services, residential care and de-congregation, personal assistance services, home support hours, day services, and access to specialist and mainstream community services.

• Abolishing the means test.

• Increasing core disability-related social welfare schemes by €20 in 2025.

• Investing in lifelong inclusion in learning by hiring an additional 1,500 additional Special Education Teachers and 1,900 SNAs; and extending the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) across Further Education and Training in 2025.

• Funding targeted recruitment and retention measures for children’s disability services and a Community Care Access Fund to speed up access of mental health and disability diagnosis and interventions.

• Reforming the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passenger’s Scheme.

• Doubling the funding for housing adaptation grants.

• Putting in place a Disabled Persons Organisations (DPO) Training and Development Fund and a Disability Inclusion Fund for all Local Authorities to support their specific disability inclusion requirements in line with the UN CRPD and Public Sector Duty.