Demonstration at Dáil for emergency winter payment for people with disabilities
Disabled people are choosing between ‘heating vs eating’ in the Westmeath and nationwide, according to local IWA coordinator Monica Hughes.
This week a disability coalition held a public demonstration outside the Dáil demanding urgent action for disabled people facing rising costs and reduced supports.
Members of Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA), the Disability Federation of Ireland and Access for All, came together, calling for an immediate emergency winter payment for people with disabilities.
In a statement, the IWA said members across the country are disappointed that Budget 2026 failed to deliver a permanent cost of disability payment for people with disabilities in Ireland.
The same budget also took away existing supports that people had relied on over the last three years, which has left thousands of people with disabilities facing increased hardship, isolation, and impossible choices between heating their homes and putting food on the table.
According to the disability coalition, people with disabilities are as much as €1,400 worse off in 2026 compared to last year, following the removal of one-off payments.
Winters are getting more unpredictable and expensive, and an emergency, one-off winter payment would provide essential relief and help people through the coldest months. Disability poverty doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of a system that fails to recognise the real costs of living with a disability. Budget 2026 should have been the turning point – instead, it has turned backwards.
Every day, IWA staff meet members who need to prioritise electricity for their medical equipment (power-chairs, hoists). That consistently raises their electricity bills and so people try to reduce their heating or food costs to compensate.
But many IWA members use wheelchairs or have limited mobility and need extra heat because they cannot move around freely to stay warm.
Every day our staff visit members choosing to leave their heat off even though they are cold.
Villages and towns can be inaccessible for wheelchair users, so as a society, we force people to spend more time at home and then their electricity and heating costs increase. It’s impossible to keep up.
According to a 2025 ESRI report, disabled people face extra costs in the range of €488-555 on average a week. According to a 2024 CSO report, people with disabilities have high consistent poverty rates, nearly four times higher (19%) than the national average (5%).
Many of our members or their families have worked all their lives, paid taxes but now are at risk because of a health issue in the family. How can a developed country and civilised government take away supports and exclude this community from budget increases now that they need it?
The Irish Wheelchair Association is campaigning for the government to introduce an emergency winter payment of €400 to match the disability support grant that was cut in the last budget.
The government also need to reinstate the energy credits they removed in Budget 2026. Those credits need to be targeted at those at risk of energy poverty, like disabled people, to ensure homes remain warm and habitable.
We are asking people in Westmeath to contact their local TDs and representatives for support this campaign for an emergency winter payment iwa.ie/post-budget-2026.