To ask the Minister for Communities whether the Anti-Poverty Strategy specifically addresses the finding in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report entitled, Disability and poverty in Northern Ireland, that disabled households are almost three times more likely to struggle to afford essentials.

Ensuring that Deaf and disabled people have the same rights and opportunities as the rest of our community remains a key priority for me. My Department is taking action to improve outcomes for those affected by, and at risk of being affected by poverty.

This includes working to ensure that disabled people’s experience of poverty is represented within the Executive’s Anti-Poverty Strategy. This went out for public consultation from 17 June to 19 September 2025, receiving responses from a wide variety of stakeholders, including organisations representing disabled people. My officials analysed, collated and circulated a summary of responses to all Executive Departments, ensuring that the voices and lived experience of all respondents, including disabled people are full considered within the development of the Strategy.

The draft Anti-Poverty Strategy contains commitments to develop and implement an Executive Disability Strategy and a Disability and Work Strategy. These Strategies will help address the barriers and inequalities that impact upon the lives of Deaf and disabled people, including those at economic disadvantage as referenced in the Disability and Poverty in Northern Ireland report. These have also been subject to public consultation to ensure that the voices of Deaf and disabled people are given the fullest consideration.

Aligned to these Strategies, initiatives such as the Pathways to Work and Wellbeing Transformation Project offer key opportunities to help more disabled people and people with health conditions to find and progress in employment.

We will continue to seek to include the voices and experiences of people with disabilities throughout the lifespan of the Anti-Poverty Strategy.