Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I absolutely agree it is vital for people with disabilities. That is why the Government has added 270,000 additional hours in the past four budgets. We have increased PA by 15% of what is there already. I totally agree that PA is important not just for accessing education, but also ensuring that as a person steps out of education, he or she can step directly into employment.

The HSE personal assistant service was developed to provide a service for adults with physical disabilities that enables them to live their lives as independently as possible and take decision-making control. The person with the disability either directly employs the PA or is involved in the process of selecting the PA to work with them. The person with the disability determines the support need and the activities with which they need to support. The Deputy is correct. It needs to be adequate and age appropriate and meet the needs of the individual. That is important.

In 2023, approximately 1.8 million PA hours will be delivered to more than 2,600 adults throughout the country. PA support is a priority for me and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, as part of our disability capacity action plan that we will publish in the coming weeks. We want to increase the number of young people accessing employment. We need to move from the bottom of the row and stop being laggards when it comes to people with disabilities accessing employment. The only way we can do that and be an enabler to that is through adequate PA support.

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