The introduction of a minimum wage of £4.40 an hour will mean higher costs for disability organisations, the Government has been told.
In a pre-budget submission, the Disability Federation of Ireland has called for immediate talks on the issue.
It also urged the Government to honour commitments made to people with disabilities. It would cost £110 million to meet the immediate needs of people with physical and mental disabilities, it said. "This amounts to only 10 per cent of the budget surplus for this year alone."
The federation said voluntary organisations "will rightly be expected to comply with minimum wage requirements" when they come into effect at the end of next year. "There is no doubt that there will be an impact on disability organisations." Health boards would also have to pay more to some staff.
The federation, which represents 71 voluntary organisations, said past experience had left it pessimistic about getting money from the Department of Health or the health boards to enable its members to pay employees enough. Talks between the voluntary and statutory sectors on the impact of the minimum wage should start immediately.
On the funding of disability services, it said the state of the economy allowed the Government to place the needs of people with disabilities and their families at the top of its list of priorities.
"Ireland is currently experiencing an economic boom," says the pre-budget submission. "The buoyant economy continues to produce extra revenue for Government. This year alone, Government revenues will be £1 billion greater than that expected at the last budget."
"The Government must remember that it is managing a society rather than an economy and, consequently, its next budget must be for all of our citizens," Mr Roger Action, chief executive of the federation, said yesterday.