At the outset, I join others in expressing my utter revulsion at the horrific antisemitic attack in Sydney on Sunday. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, friends and the wider Jewish community.

During last year's election campaign, the Taoiseach said his party's guiding principle on disability issues is "nothing about us, without us." I happen to agree with him about the importance of that principle. Put simply, it means listening to disabled people, ensuring people with disabilities have a seat at the table when policy is being formed and listening to their feedback about how policy is working. This matters because disabled people unfortunately have a long history of being spoken for rather than listened to. This is, of course, particularly important when it comes decisions that specifically impact their lives.

My question is very simple. Why is the Government not listening to disabled people? Their voices are loud and clear. They are angry about and upset by this Government's decision to slash their incomes by up to €1,400 in the budget. The Disability Federation of Ireland has called this a "devastating setback" which "leaves disabled people poorer, unsupported and excluded." It warned that "without urgent change … disabled people will remain trapped in poverty and exclusion in one of Europe's wealthiest countries." The Government did not listen.

Last week, disabled people braved the storm to protest outside the Dáil. One man spoke about relying on food banks because he cannot afford groceries. Another woman described having to go to libraries to stay warm.

This is a crisis. It is not sustainable. Disabled people are clear about what they need, which is an emergency €400 winter payment. That will still leave people €1,000 worse off, but it will at least go some way towards meeting the cost of food and bills this winter.

The question is whether the Government is listening. Every time disabled people raise issues about the budget, all we get from Government is deflection. Investment in services is conflated with a recognition of the cost of having a disability. The Government ignored its own reports on the huge additional cost of having a disability and took the decision to cut people's income, removing one-off payments without replacing them with anything permanent. Many people are full of dread about the future because they literally do not know how they will keep food on the table. Will the Taoiseach tell the people watching whether the Government will introduce a €400 cost-of-disability payment for the winter? When will it will introduce a permanent weekly payment?

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. We are listening to people with disabilities. Last Monday, we had a very significant meeting with disabled persons' organisations in the context of the implementation of the national strategy for disabled persons and the action plan that underpins it. There were a number of Ministers present, and I chaired the meeting. Each Minister outlined his or her programmes in respect of the action plan, following on from the publication of the strategy some months ago. The whole purpose was co-design and to listen to and engage with representatives of various pillars of disability organisations in the country. There will be further meetings, which will be more thematic and which will relate to specific areas.

I established a disability unit in my Department to drive change across Government in respect of disability. We also have a Cabinet committee on disability, which I chair. There was a particular focus on the issue in the budget. At today's Cabinet meeting, we produced a budget spotlight on the measures taken in respect of disability. These include a 20% increase in services, the largest increase in disability services for quite some time. We need more, and we need to do more.

The special education budget is now over €3 billion. That has to manifest itself in additional classes, teachers, special needs assistants and therapies in our schools and it is doing so. Very quickly after coming into government, we were in a position to roll out the school therapy programme. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, is doing phenomenal work in special education along with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, as he did with the previous Minister, Deputy McEntee. We are very focused on establishing that programme in the early months of the new year before expanding it to all special schools in the next school year, during the period from September to January. We will then expand it further. We will continue to look at ways to improve the quality of education for children with special needs and how to ensure the right placements on time with the right therapeutic supports. We are also continuing to recruit for CDNTs and so forth.

The Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, is working on the issue of the cost of disability. He is leading the strategic focus network on the cost of disability, working closely with disabled people and their advocates to shape how this payment will be designed and delivered. Several meetings have already taken place. The intention is to bring a proposal to Government in the first half of next year.

The bottom line is that we want to embed a permanent change in our payments systems and across all Government Departments. Once-off payments are no substitute for that. The once-off payments were introduced to deal with emergency situations arising out of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They are not fiscally sustainable in the long term.

The Taoiseach says he is listening but he has inadvertently told us very clearly that he is not. I ask again whether the Government will introduce a €400 winter payment. Investment in services is welcome and absolutely essentially but, with respect, it is not what I am asking about. For example, investment in special schools will not put food on the table, pay bills or pay people's rent. Ireland has the lowest rate of employment for disabled people in Europe and one of the highest costs of living. People were outside the Dáil last week, in the middle of a storm, to protest. They told us how embarrassing it was for them to have to do that.

One in five disabled people in Ireland lives in consistent poverty. That was before the Government slashed their payments. The Government is either not listening, does not get it or simply does not want to do anything about it. Which is it?

I disagree with the Deputy. This is a priority for me and for the Government. Just because she stands up and says it is not does not mean it is not. It is, but we need permanent change and permanent improvements, not just once-off stuff every year. That will not cut it either and-----

Why not cost for-----

A permanent costed disability payment.

Deputy Calleary is working through the detail because is not simple. He is going to work through it and will have proposals in the first half of next year. This year, we brought in the highest ever increase to the child support payment, namely €16 per week for children over 12, up to €78 now-----

That is not relevant to what I am asking.

Of course it is relevant. That is for all children. There has been a €20 monthly increase to the domiciliary care allowance-----

Answer her question.

-----on the back of a very big increase last year. We are not going the route of short-term, once-off payments. Such payments are not fiscally sustainable in terms of the €3 billion and more we allocated last year.

Property is not fiscally sustainable.

It is not your turn Deputy McDonald.

Thank you, Taoiseach.

Please allow someone else to have the opportunity to hear my reply.

I am supporting my colleague and her very reasonable question.

I thank the Taoiseach. Time is up.

It will be interesting to see how long the Deputies opposite will remain colleagues, but anyway.