Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will go back to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and discuss that with him. I am happy to engage with Senator Ward on that.

Senator Clonan said that the budget did not really speak to the fundamental human rights of people with a disability. A budget is an allocation of financial resources. We just get this long list of amounts of money that are being paid in different ways but there is that saying that a budget reveals one's values. There are large increases in disability supports, as I mentioned, for example, in special education and in the hiring of people for those areas. It may not feel like that specifically. Senator Clonan said he would like to see an end of means testing for carers' allowance and for disability allowance. Again we are back to the fundamental question as to what extent one puts money into universal benefits versus targeted benefits. The problem with targeted benefits is that they sometimes miss people. The problem with universal benefits is that we are not specifically concentrating the money on the people who might need it most. The Senator asked when the optional protocol for the UNCRPD will be implemented. I am happy to discuss that further with him.

Overall, I thank the Senators for their comments and commend the budget to the House. If anybody wants to discuss any of these issues with me, I am happy to do so.