On November 19th, the AISSN hosted a one-hour All-Island Social Security Network webinar on the initial findings from our comparative research on disability benefits North and South of the border. This paper endeavours to legally map out the respective systems in several key areas (material scope/eligibility, assessment and financial transfers) before comparing the two most commonly accessed payments (Disability Allowance and Personal Independence Payment) more directly.
We want to thank our speakers (Dr Charles O’Sullivan, NUI Maynooth and Dr Anne Devlin, ESRI) and respondents (Damien Walshe, Independent Living Movement Ireland and Nuala Toman, Head of Innovation and Impact, Disability Action). We were delighted to have almost 40 attendees at the event.
We are currently working on a further paper, which analyses the development and respective failures of the disability Green Papers which were launched by both the Irish and British Government’s in the last couple of years, with a focus on the motivations of each Government for introducing more reform to social protection and providing a comparative view of the resistance to these processes and we look forward to sharing this with you soon.
Similarly, we hope to begin work on a companion piece comparing Carer’s benefits in both jurisdictions in the New Year.
All-Island Social Security Network 