Households with a disabled member face significant financial burdens and are at very high risk of poverty, according to a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) and the ESRI have jointly published research, which they have described as "a stark picture" for disabled households.
The study, 'Adjusting Estimates of Poverty for the Cost of Disability', also shows a significant increase in the cost of living for disabled people compared to a previously published report on the cost of disability by Indecon.
The latest IHREC and ESRI findings show households with a disabled member have a lower standard of living than those without.
In income terms, the cost of disability is estimated to be 52-59% of disposable income for disabled households.
This means that households with a disabled member require, on average, 52-59% extra disposable income, to achieve the same standard of living as a similar household with no disabled members.
For households with a member who has severe limitations, the cost of disability can be as high as 93% of their disposable income.
Due to a lower labour income and higher consumption needs the findings show that disabled individuals and their households experience "a double penalty" to their living standards.
Read full IHREC and ESRI report here
A research report on the cost of disability in Ireland carried out by Indecon and published by the previous Government in 2021, estimated that the overall average annual costs of disability in Ireland ranged from €9,482 per annum to €11,734.
The ESRI has now estimated that the cost is €25,000 - €29,000 per annum, which is significantly higher than the Indecon findings.
While the cost of living has risen substantially since 2018, the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis have also been associated with an increase in material deprivation which has led to an increase in the cost of disability in recent years.
The Indecon report used pooled data from 2015 to 2018 while the ESRI has used more recent data from 2022.
However, there are also some differences between the two studies.
The ESRI has clarified that it has a narrower definition of disability, which means the sample it has used is more likely to be "severely limited" in their daily activities than the sample in the Indecon report.
The ESRI also uses a broader definition of deprivation, which increases the likelihood that someone reports experiencing that deprivation.
Finally, Indecon estimated the cost of disability at the median, while the ESRI used the mean. Costing at the median would bring the latest estimates down to €21,000 - €24,000 per annum.
Time for action
Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Liam Herrick described it as "unacceptable" that disabled people live at a much higher risk of poverty in Ireland.
"The State is obliged to actively support and resource disabled people to live independently, including through the provision of person-centred financial supports," he said.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Herrick said much of the previous research concentrated on the income impact as opposed to the cost to a household.
"Traditionally, we estimated that the average population is a 10% risk of poverty. For people with a disability in their household, it's 24%," he said.
"But if you actually look and factor in the full cost of disability, which hasn't been fully appreciated, we estimate the risk of poverty for households with a person with disability living in it are between 65 and 76% much, much higher than previously estimated.
"That would bring us in line with previous research in other Northern European countries."
Mr Herrick said it is time for action and it is a "question of having the ambition".
"We know that these are profound long-term disabling effects and the types of measures we've used today, for example, one off grants for the cost of disability are not adequate to meet the fact that this is a permanent and ongoing increased cost for these families."
Co-author of the report, Theano Kakoulidou, of the ESRI, said removing barriers to work would be one way of addressing the higher rates of income poverty among disabled people.
The representative group run by disabled people, the Independent Living Movement of Ireland, has described the figures as "startling".
Chairperson of ILMI Des Kenny said consecutive reports had confirmed "the reality" that disabled people are more likely to live in poverty.
"Not because of our impairments, but because of Government inaction to recognise and respond to the costs associated with being disabled," he said.
He said the latest report proved the need for a cost of disability payment and for personalised budgets for disabled people from childhood to adulthood.
Mr Kenny also noted recognition of the structural barriers to employment which he said had been ignored for too long.
"The Government must act now to remove such barriers and to respond meaningfully to the costs associated with disability, so disabled people can live with financial security like everyone else and not be regarded as a burden on family or society," he said.
