Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Quaide. First, regarding NRH, that would come under the Department of Health. This is where our national disability strategy will come into play. I have certain levers within my Department but it is through working with my Cabinet colleagues that we can ensure we are providing the acute services as well as the community and step-down services. The Deputy is absolutely correct. We all appreciate the inappropriateness of somebody being placed in a nursing home. I have also seen examples in my visits around the country where a young person with an acquired brain injury was housed through the local authority. This was a result of forward-planning and we need to have that as well as part of our strategy. When building homes in estates, which is one of our top priorities in terms of housing and disability, there should be an obligation on the Department of housing to ensure that part of it goes to persons with disabilities. There are some really good organisations out there around the country for people with acquired brain injuries. I am visiting them. There are some really good practices and models, which I would like to see replicated across the country.

In response to the Deputy's reference to the Ombudsman report, from 2021 to 2025, the Government provided funding of €21.4 million to enable people under the age of 65 to transition to an alternative community-based placement and to provide in situ supports, as appropriate. We need to increase that. To date, 104 people have transitioned to homes in the community since the start of that programme in 2021 but we need to do much more. That is not a defence; it is just saying that is the direction of travel. We need to ensure people can live as independently as possible, in a way of their choosing and that is normally in their own home in their community.