Charles Ward: Urgent plea on cost of disability, defective homes
Charles Ward speaks in support of a Sinn Féin motion on the rising cost of disability and the urgent needs of families living with defective concrete homes. He highlights individual cases, national statistics and calls for immediate government action to stop avoidable harm.
Key points
Charles Ward reiterates the stories of Aaron Langan, Diarmuid O'Sullivan, arguing that delays in access to medication and support are costing lives. He frames the problem as both medical and financial: 'time is muscle' for people with DMD and other conditions, and households with disabled members face disproportionate costs.
Data and impact
Ward cites studies from Social Justice Ireland and the ESRI to show systemic hardship: more than 20 percent of the population live with a disability, two in five people with disabilities cannot afford essentials, and many disabled households face much higher costs of living. He notes that disabled households are estimated to be around 1,400 euros a year worse off following removal of essential budgets in 2026.
Defective concrete crisis
The speaker draws attention to people with disabilities living in defective concrete homes, describing the extra costs and practical barriers this creates-equipment that cannot be bolted to crumbling walls, unaffordable repairs and worsening mental health. Ward says these families feel ignored and that their human rights are being violated.
Call for action
Charles Ward urges the government to engage directly with families affected by defective concrete and to commission a study into the impact on people with disabilities. He presses ministers to acknowledge the scale of the cost of disability and to develop targeted supports so affected families are heard and helped.
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I'd like to thank Louise O'Reilly and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on the cost of disability and when we're talking about the cost of disability we can't help and I want to reiterate what Deputy Piers Daugherty said about Aaron Langan and Jeremy O'Sullivan, the situation they're in. The situation is a year ago we were in an AV room, I was along with Jeremy and his parents and Jeremy's story is that he has DMD, Dujan's muscular dystrophy. His brother has it. His brother is on a trial that means that he has the medication while Jeremy doesn't and that is a serious issue. He is up against it, up against time along with Aaron. Aaron Langan is up against time. Aaron lives in Lahie which is 10 minutes from Balik, County Fermanagh where that drug is readily available and I'm asking you and I'm pleading with you to get something done about this. A year has passed, these children are losing time and time is muscle so I'll move on. More than 20% of the population are living with a disability but despite making up a fifth of our population disabilities are often left behind and access to services are three times more likely we're risking poverty and it's an absolute disgrace in this day and age that we're facing this. They have twice the risks of developing conditions such as depression, asthma, stroke, obesity or poor oral health and according to Social Justice Ireland and we give some of these figures here, two in five people with disabilities are unable to afford essentials like heating or clothing. One in five people with disabilities live in constant poverty and the ESRI found that households with disabled members have a lower standard of living than those without. So for example the cost of disability is between 52 to 59 percent of disposable income and the average weekly household disposable income for a disabled household is in around 944 years which means disability costs 488 per week between that and 550. That's another mortgage as far as people would go and the government is facing, they have to take responsibility and help these people because as everybody in every constituency office will tell you we're inundated constantly and people with disabilities are 1400 euros a year worse off because of the removal of essential budgets in 2026 and that's a fact and it's not surprising that the risks of poverty rate is much higher with disabled people compared to able-bodied people. So disabled people are facing a 24 percent rise compared to 10 percent for non-disabled people which is, it's a ridiculous situation. They're not getting equality and households with disabled members require 41 to 93 percent extra disposable income to meet their standard of living. So when it comes to it, significant additional costs to disabled people are not being met by existing social welfare programs and we can see that through our constituency offices when we're applying for stuff and trying to help people and numerous studies have shown that costs are continuing to rise and it's significant. So we need to step up as a state, we need to show equality and help people and particularly we need to step up to support for disabled people that are impacted with defective concrete. Now can you imagine living in a home with a disability and then living in a home with defective concrete and a disability? The costs to run the home are already astronomical because the house is a structural failure and if you have equipment that you can't even bolt to the wall and I'm dealing with these people every day of the week and trying my best to try and help them and we are saying to them it's coming, we're going to help, the government said they're going to help and they're waiting and they're waiting time and time again. It's significant that they feel desperate in their circumstances and their extremely poor living conditions and I am asking you as we're moving forward with this that you need to start engaging with people in defective concrete homes with disabilities. You need to start doing it, they need to be heard, they need to feel that they've got a voice because they don't, they feel they're not listened to and it's bad enough having a disability but imagine having a disability and you're stuck in a home that's crumbling around you, you're not going to be able to afford to do this, you're not going to be able to afford to move on. Their mental health is down the drain and we're not talking ones, twos or threes. I have five, six, seven, eight people, it doesn't matter, since the day I was elected come in and I am representing them but the government needs to take this seriously. They need to do a study on people with disabilities living in defective concrete homes because they're not being treated properly. Their human rights are being violated, they've been violated for far too long, they have not given the opportunity to be listened to. So I'm pleading with you over the next few months to start making engagement with families with disability in defective concrete homes.
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