This Saturday at 1 o'clock in Parnell Square, disabled people, disability groups and the Affordable Ireland Coalition, of which I am a part, will be mobilising in a protest, demanding that this Government relent and concede the demand for an emergency disability winter payment of €400 for those with disabilities and, beyond that, implement a cost-of-disability payment. A young man named Jack, who was at our press conference yesterday promoting the demonstration, was on the radio today describing how he had to buy an extra duvet because he does not want to turn on the heating as he is afraid to the cost. He gets anxiety attacks when he has to go to the shops. He has additional energy costs because he has to power his wheelchair. He is facing all these cost-of-living pressures. The Government hammered those people in the budget by taking €1,400 away from them. Will the Government concede their demand for an emergency payment before the demonstration on Saturday?

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett. The Government is in the process of working to develop a cost-of-disability payment. The consultation opened on that last week. We are actively engaging now with people with disabilities directly and also with their representative bodies. I encourage everybody and political parties in this House to get involved in that process as we try to design, for the first time, a cost-of-disability payment. I appreciate the cost-of-living challenges are real people, which is why we took a number of measures in the budget that were targeted, including expanding the eligibility for fuel allowance. I also make the point that emergency payments are available through community welfare officers for anybody in any difficulty.

People should not have to beg.