Mayo Disabled Persons Organisation attends summit in Dublin
Mayo Disabled Persons Organisation (Mayo DPO) attended the Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network Summit held at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday, May 13, joining disabled people, Disabled Persons Organisations, advocates and representative groups from across the country.
The summit gave disabled people a chance to speak openly about what life is like in Ireland today and the financial pressures they face because of disability/ impairments in a society that is often not accessible.
During the event, disabled people talked about the extra costs they deal with every day. These include higher heating, and electricity bills due to reduced mobility and charging equipment, problems with public transport, the need for assistive technology, communication supports, special diets, home adaptations, travel costs related to disability, and the rising cost of personal assistance.
For many disabled people, these are not optional lifestyle expenses. They are basic costs associated with survival, independence and taking part in society.
Mayo DPO welcomed the acknowledgement from Government that the additional cost of disability is significant and must be addressed. The group also appreciated Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary’s input into this and the chance to take part in discussions about creating a Cost of Disability payment.
However, Mayo DPO pointed out that there are tough challenges ahead and stressed that disabled people should not have to keep waiting for real action.
After the summit, Mayo DPO Chairperson Avril Greham said: “Disabled people and our families have carried these costs privately for decades. “What is challenging is not identifying the problem. Disabled people have already done that work through lived experience, consultations and submissions. The challenge now is whether Government is willing to properly prioritise disabled people’s rights, equality and participation in Irish society.”
“We welcome the opportunity to be part of this conversation and we appreciate Minister Dara Calleary engaging directly with disabled people and DPOs. But there is no escaping the fact that difficult decisions now lie ahead. Disabled people need action, not delays.”
The Mayo DPO organisation said one of the strongest themes emerging from the summit was the urgent need for education across Irish society around disability rights, inclusion and accessibility. Mayo DPO believes Disability Equality Training (DET), delivered by disabled people themselves, must become part of how employers, public bodies, frontline services and public stakeholders build understanding and improve accessibility.
“Too often disabled people are still viewed through a medical or charitable lens instead of through a human rights lens,” Mayo DPO Chairperson Avril Greham said.
“Education has to be part of the solution. Employers, the public sector, decision-makers and services need meaningful Disability Equality Training delivered by disabled people with lived experience. That is how attitudes begin to shift, and barriers begin to come down.”
The organisation also stressed that dignity and trust must sit at the very heart of any future Cost of Disability payment. “Disabled people must be believed when we talk about our impairments, our barriers and the extra costs we face,” Ms. Greham said. “This process cannot become overly medicalised or force disabled people into endless assessments and paperwork simply to prove what we already live with every single day. The system must come from a place of dignity and trust on both sides.”
Mayo DPO also welcomed comments from Tánaiste Simon Harris acknowledging the importance of policy and the need for all sectors to work together to achieve meaningful change for disabled people.
The organisation believes that any payment introduced must: be separate from existing disability payments; not be means tested; reflect the wide range and severity of disability-related costs; recognise that disabled people in employment still face significant additional expenses; be designed through co-production with disabled people themselves; be protected as a long-term and permanent support for disabled people
Avril Greham added:
“This payment must be viewed as a permanent investment in equity and participation. Disabled people’s additional costs do not disappear from one budget cycle to the next. Even during times of economic pressure, disabled people cannot once again become the group expected to absorb the impact.”
Mayo DPO also highlighted the particular impact disability-related costs have on disabled people living in rural counties such as Mayo, where inaccessible transport and reduced local services can deepen isolation and increase dependency on private transport and support networks.
Mayo DPO said it will continue engaging with Government and policymakers to ensure disabled people’s voices remain central to the development of any future Cost of Disability measures.