Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Once again I thank the Senator for his contributions on this matter, the points he has made will be conveyed to both Ministers and the HSE. The Government has demonstrated its continuing commitment to people with disabilities with a record €2.9 billion being provided in 2024. This includes significant additional funding to help increase service capacity to deliver more for people with disabilities across the country. It is however recognised that several organisations are in a weakened financial state. The financial challenges facing the voluntary sector are highly complex, arising from both historical issues around funding arrangements as well as emerging challenges due to a changing profile of user need, higher safety and quality standards and general demographic pressures.

The Governement is working to progressively address these challenges and the disability capacity review was an important step in mapping out and acknowledging the levels of unmet need in the sector. The action plan for disability services sets out our ambition for reform and expansion of disability sevices over the next three years and this includes a significant policy service transformation initiative to ensure innovative person-centered solutions to meet these systemic challenges. In the meantime,cash advances have been made to cover the financial commitments and funding has been advanced to cover outstanding debts to ensure the service provision is maintained at St. Christopher's.