Humphreys defends Green Paper on disability following senator criticism

Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys has again defended her record on disability matters following criticism from a senator.

Senator Tom Clonan said Ms Humphreys “very strongly pushed” for tiered welfare support for disabled people while she was social protection minister, and spread “huge fear and consternation” among the disability and caring community.

Ms Humphreys, a former minister for social protection, has said the measures were only contained in a consultation paper and that the proposals were dropped following consultation.

Mr Clonan said that protests were organised against the proposals, but “at no point was Minister Humphreys for turning” until Simon Harris became Taoiseach in April 2024.

The proposals in the Green Paper included a tiered allowance which would link the level of payments to a determination on capacity to work and the nature of the disability.

Disability activists said the plans were a “degrading and humiliating” value judgment that would give the impression that some people were falsifying the extent of their impairment or illness.

Mr Clonan has described the Green Paper as a “cut-and-paste” of a “very discredited austerity measure” in the UK called the Workplace Capacity Assessment.

He said the document would mean 250,000 recipients of Disability Allowance would need to be medically examined every five years.

“These are people like my son, who can’t get medical interventions, who can’t get surgeries on the scoliosis waiting list, who can’t get therapies, and this proposal was to have them compulsorily medically examined under capacity to work,” he told RTE Radio.

The senator said that in a Seanad debate on October 11, Ms Humphreys “robustly defended every aspect of that paper” and the Government voted 2:1 to endorse the paper.

He said in a 30-minute meeting with Ms Humphreys on October 24, she “set out very clearly to me at that meeting that she was not for turning”.

He added: “The Green Paper was the was the roadmap, was the pathway for reform of disability payments.”

He said: “The change didn’t occur until they were defeated in the care referendum, and that’s when Leo Varadkar resigned, Simon Harris was elected, and within 72 hours they scrapped that paper.

“In her statement on April 12, she said it was a decision of the Taoiseach that they needed a fresh approach.”

Ms Humphreys said in that statement that the decision not to implement the proposals was based on concerned feedback and “a major focus on improving supports” for people with disabilities by Mr Harris.

Asked about Mr Clonan’s comments on Wednesday, Ms Humphreys said: “I find this very hurtful, because I have never tried to cause distress to anyone, and I’ve always advocated for disabled people and their rights throughout my career.”

She said “nobody was going to receive lower benefits”, and that she “believed in consultation”.

“I heard the concerns of others, and based on those genuine concerns raised, I decided not to proceed with it,” she added.

Mr Clonan said on Thursday morning: “This isn’t a personal attack of Minister Humphreys, it’s a political critique.

“And in terms of hurt, I have a young man at home. He has a neuro-muscular disease. He’s partially sighted, and against all the odds, he’s due to graduate in October with a degree in social science.

“But tomorrow he’s going into Vincent’s Hospital for an MRI brain scan. Because of the deterioration in his condition, they’re banking his voice.

“We were told by the wonderful team in Vincent’s that the funding isn’t even available to bank his voice, so his 17-year-old brother is going through family clips of videos to try and harvest examples of his voice. Now that’s hurt.”

A spokesperson for Ms Humphreys said on Thursday that the candidate “has always been a strong advocate for carers and disabled people”.

The spokesperson said Ms Humphreys had increased disability and carers payments in successive budgets, introduced a pension for long-term carers, brought in a new free travel pass for people medically unable to drive, and supports for students in recent of disability payments.

“Anybody can Google the Green Paper for themselves and see that it was only ever a consultation paper.

“Heather listened to the genuine concerns raised during that consultation and the proposals did not proceed any further.

“Heather respects Senator Clonan who has always been a strong advocate for disabled people.”