Léan Kennedy lives in Limerick and is the mother of a two-year-old girl.
Léan is profoundly vision impaired.
She is Advocacy and Policy Manager with Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, which provides guide dogs to blind and visually impaired people, and assistance dogs to autistic children.
Léan had perfect vision as a child, but at the age of 13 retinal dystrophy took hold and her eyesight deteriorated rapidly.
Over the years, she has developed a number of complications.
Léan is one of the people Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys was referring to when she said at the weekend that the Government's package of measures to tackle cost-of-living increases would be targeted at vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and older people.
She has experienced the same cost-of-living increases as everyone else in society; her family, her health and her mortgage are her priorities.
But she has added costs and concerns too.
Léan welcomed the €200 extra payment on her disability allowance announced by the Government today, as well as the additional €100 child benefit payment, but she was disappointed that the package of measures to tackle cost-of-living increases was not more targeted towards people with disabilities.
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"I'm still very concerned," Léan told RTÉ News. "I'd be concerned for how I'd be able to look after my bills going further down the road. As I say, my last [energy] bill was close to €600. That's for a two-month period. That's a huge increase in what I would have been used to in previous years.
"So I will be worried about how I'll break even every month financially, despite the income that I have."
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Léan uses a guide dog as a mobility aid. Higgins, a golden retriever who she describes as her shadow, turns nine in April. He is due to retire next year and Léan would like to be able to afford to pay for his retirement, as a reward for the service he has given her.
"He is with me all day, every day, watching over me," Léan says. "He is the most caring, sensitive dog, and he will always warn me in good time when there is danger."
Léan was lucky enough to be able to buy her own home during the Covid-19 pandemic with the help of savings she had built up, but mortgage interest rate increases have meant she is no longer able to save.
Higgins' retirement costs will have to be factored into her increasing outgoings too, while health costs are another concern.
She is lucky to be able to afford private health insurance and has had multiple eye surgeries in recent years.
However, she worries that she may be forced to cancel her insurance cover and rely on the public health system if cost-of-living increases continue.
Léan would prefer not to have to do that. She doesn't want to be a burden on anyone. She wants to pay her own way.
She says the cost-of-living increases of the past 12 months have been difficult.
"It's been hard. I have been under pressure to keep on top of bills," she told RTÉ News.
"The increase in the electricity especially has impacted hugely, and the payment from the Department of Social Welfare has been hugely welcome."
Léan explains that her electricity use is higher because she is reliant on assistive technology, like for planning her journeys and booking public transport.
Ahead of today's announcement, she was hoping there would be another energy credit payment and was disappointed when it did not come.
In the longer term, Léan is hoping the Government will move from a system of piecemeal payments to more consistent supports, which she says would give certainty and remove anxiety.
She points out that under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability, the Government is obliged to have policies in place to ensure that people with a disability can live independently and be included in the community.
"As well as the measures being announced today, I need to know what supports will be there for me in the future," Léan says. "It feels very much short-term and reactive.
"We have had payments to get us through Christmas and the winter, but the State has obligations to ensure that this becomes embedded in its policy approach going forward.
"For instance, this could be achieved through targeted tax relief and welfare benefits for adults and children who have guide dogs or assistance dogs."
Evelyn Wainright, a widow in her 70s from Togher in Cork, was watching today's Government announcement closely too.
Her husband Terry died two-and-a-half years ago. Aside from the huge emotional loss, Terry's passing has also left Evelyn at a financial loss; the income coming into her house was effectively halved to one State pension instead of two, yet Evelyn's running costs have remained the same.
That was before the cost-of-living increases of the last 12 months began to bite.
"The biggest thing is the gas and electricity, the way it has gone up for me," Evelyn says. "Last year I was paying €40 per week for the two together. Now I'm paying €80 per week."
Evelyn welcomed the additional €200 she will receive under today's package on her pension, but she is disappointed that there was no further energy credit.
"If they brought down the price of the electricity and the gas, it would make a big difference, but I have seen nothing of that today," Evelyn said.
"I thought that is where they would start, knowing that people are struggling with their gas and electricity bills."
Evelyn has also noticed a big increase in the cost of food.
"Last year I was getting a lot of food in for €50 per week, but that has gone up to €70 or €80 per week," she says.
"That's a big jump every week."
Evelyn has not cut back on food or on heating her house, but she no longer uses the immersion to heat water.
"I wish they would give more towards the cost of heating," she said.
In the longer term, Evelyn would like the Government to consider further supports for people living on their own, particularly where that person has lost a partner.
"I have the same expenses coming in now that I'm on my own as I did when my husband was alive," she said.
