91. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Social Protection if he has had any engagement with an organisation (details supplied) in relation to Budget 2027. [67198/26]

Consultation with stakeholders is a key element of my Department's work.  I regularly meet with representatives of civil society organisations across a range of areas, as do my officials.  These engagements may be held bilaterally, or as part of my Department's regular meetings with the Community and Voluntary Pillar, at the Pre Budget Forum, at the Social Inclusion Forum, the Annual Carer's Forum or other events.  My Department also has a dedicated Disability Consultative Forum, of which the organisation to which the Deputy refers is a member.

Since October last my officials have met with several groups, including Disabled Persons' Organisations and the organisation referred by the Deputy, to discuss the cost of disability and other issues.  The Cost of Disability Strategic Focus Network was a main agenda item of the Disability Consultative Forum meetings in December 2025, and February and April this year.  Officials from across government were in attendance at the December meeting given that addressing the cost of disability requires a whole of Government response.  I personally attended the February and April meetings, which gave me the opportunity to engage directly on many of these issues.

The next meeting of the Disability Consultative Forum is set to take place on 30 September, and I will be attending this session and engaging further with the member groups in advance of the Budget.

I hosted the Pre-Budget Forum on 1 July where we had a session on issues relating to disability and caring, which was attended by the named organisation.  That organisation was also represented at the Strategic Focus Network Summit which I hosted on 13 May.

In July, I presented a report on the Strategic Focus Network on the Cost of Disability to the Delivery and Monitoring Committee under the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People which is Chaired by An Taoiseach.  We had a good discussion at that meeting at which the organisation to which the Deputy refers was represented.

All of these engagements together with the output of the public consultation on the cost of disability are informing the approach that we, across Government, take in Budget 2027.

I trust this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.