Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Toole for that. She spoke about the NCSE, CDNTs and the lack of therapists. That is the elephant in the room here. We have full employment in this country. We are looking at innovative ways to hire more people. It is about retention and recruitment. That is why we have the domestic and international recruitment work happening.

The Deputy mentioned the ETBs and therapist-support courses. She is spot on in what she says about work experience. We need to give young people who are thinking of careers access to see what it is like to work as a therapist, even in the school setting or the community. I know there our drives in secondary schools throughout the country to speak to students about future careers. I would be interested to hear if there is potential to expand on what is being done with the ETBs. These are exactly the areas I want to push. Where something is working well and there is a model and a structure set up, there is no point in reinventing the wheel in order for us to get access to more therapists. It is not just speech and language therapists and occupational therapists; sometimes we need a dietitian or a social worker. We are aware of all those requirements.

The Deputy mentioned robotics. I believe assistive technology will be a real innovator, not only in the world of disabilities but in all our lives. We constantly need to keep up to date with the changes in this area and how we can help people live independently in their own homes.

The Deputy is correct that there is a commitment in the programme for Government on multi-annual funding. It is my job to ensure we increase the amount in the budget right across the disability sector, including in day respite. We need to ensure the HSE knows the funding it has so it can plan and that is even before we get to multi-annual funding. We are looking at that and work is under way. As we know, there are certain legislative restrictions on entering multi-annual funding agreements for current expenditure. Current expenditure is not like capital expenditure where there are multi-annual commitments linked to the national development plan. For current expenditure, my Department is required to adhere to public financial procedures. However, the Programme for Government 2025: Securing Ireland's Future commits to considering multi-annual funding, which must be linked to productivity, staffing levels and the delivery of disability services. My Department is working with the HSE and other stakeholders to explore options to take that forward.

Options for planning service delivery and for workforce on a multi-annual basis will be explored in the context of the HSE's pay and numbers strategy and other national service plans. That important work on the pay and numbers strategy is under way. That process also requires consultation with the Department of public expenditure and reform. After that, we could potentially be looking at multi-annual funding. If we want to ensure we are delivering services over the next five years as part of the national disability strategy, we need to be planning now. The HSE needs to have the data on what is coming down the track. It needs to have its costings on things like the cost of a bed in Galway versus Louth. We need to get all that data, which will also help me when I go into the budget and Estimates processes.