Mr. Finbarr Colfer:

I relate to the Senator's questions. We see those challenges within the service. For congregated settings, there is now a challenge in respect of the provision of housing. A number of planned movements from congregated settings have slowed down because of a shortage of appropriate housing. We recognise that. There is no legal measure in place to prevent the operation of congregated settings. There is, therefore, no requirement for congregated settings to close other than the weight of evidence indicating they are not the appropriate services for people. We support a number of plans throughout the country for people to move out of large institutional settings. That has slowed down in the past year, in particular. Those plans are still in place and those providers continue to try to drive forward those plans. However, there has been a delay.

On the community side of things, I am conscious it is not only a matter for congregated settings in the overall and general context of the disability sector. Quite a number of people are involved. The Health Research Board, HRB, provides information in that regard. Quite a number of people who require residential services within the community and who are living with older family members are in inappropriate situations. There is a legacy piece involved on which the HSE needs to move forward. That does not apply to congregated settings only but also applies in the case of people who require residential services and are living in the community with their families. We prioritise those. Each year, there are quite a number of applications to register services in response to a crisis in the community where a person's family members can no longer support them. We always prioritise those. We move forward with those registrations very quickly and ensure that regulation supports the development of those services.