Results 21-40 of 9,634 for speaker:Hildegarde Naughton

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Early Childhood Care and Education (30 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: The HSE provides specialist disability services, including Day Services and Rehabilitative Training, to people with disabilities who require such services, and people with intellectual disabilities would form the majority of service users who are supported by these services. While day service funding does not include transport, some transport supports are provided by the HSE or funded...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Assisted Decision-Making (25 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy for their question regarding the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) and the system of wardship. The 2015 Act brought about an end to wardship in the State for adults, by repealing the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 and replacing the wards of court system with the new process for appointing tiered decision support arrangements that is now...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I will come back and follow up in writing on that. The Deputy makes a good point as well. I always stress when travelling around the country and visiting services that there is a lot of fantastic work happening within the disability sector. Sometimes those working within the sector talk to me about the narrative out there. We all understand the challenges that have to be dealt with and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: The Government and I recognise the importance of early intervention, and the programme for Government, as the Deputy knows, commits to ensuring children and their families get that early intervention and therapy input, and that they can access that support in a timely way. A key response to this issue is the recruitment and retention of health and social care professionals, and I alluded...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I do not have the figures for that but I can tell the Deputy that the focus of Government, and my focus and that of the Minister, Deputy Foley, is to make sure we are increasing the number of speech and language therapists and occupational therapists so that they are actually going out there providing the therapies. As the Deputy knows with regard to the backlog of assessment of need, a lot...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy, and I will come back to him if I have those figures available to me. He raised an important point around early intervention. I refer to the earliest milestones, and a child not reaching them. What is happening now is a lot of these pressures are coming into the education system. Where a need is identified we need to be flagging it much earlier and providing the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: The Government and I recognise the importance of early intervention for children with disabilities and of ensuring they receive the right service at the right time. Under the programme for Government we are committed to ensuring that children and their families who need early intervention and therapy input can access that support in a timely way. The key vehicle for change and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: That is the breakdown I received but I will go back and see if there is a further breakdown. The Deputy's question was specific but those were the figures I got back. I will come back to the Deputy if there is a further breakdown. My Department and I know that more needs to be done in this area. My Department is working with the HSE to introduce specific recruitment and retention...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government and I recognise the need for all children to receive the right services at the right time. We are committed to improving services for all children with disabilities. We have and will continue to do so. As the Deputy will know, there are currently 93 CDNTs across the country and these teams provide services and supports for children from...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: As I was saying, we will be increasing our focus on children's neurorehabilitation. The HSE is progressing plans to examine the demand for those rehabilitation services for children in Ireland with acquired disability and to examine the current capacity rehabilitation services, as well as designing a service delivery model for children with acquired disability in line with national...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy for his contribution. It is important. He is correct that we should address those gaps. As I travelled the country I have met those who look after people who acquire a brain injury - mostly adults - but issues around that gap between the ages of 16 to 18 are issues that have been raised with me. I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue here and it is something we will...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: This Government and I recognise the importance of early intervention for children with disabilities and ensuring they receive the right services at the right time. The Programme for Government commits to ensuring children and their families, who need early intervention and therapy input, can access that support in a timely way. The National Programme on Progressing Disability Services...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy for this question. The design and development of the recently launched National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 involved ongoing, regular engagement with colleagues across government, including engagement with the Department of Transport. Transport and Mobility is one of the core five pillars of the Strategy. The Department of Transport is leading on...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy for this question. Following on from the launch of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 on 3rd September, Government is committed to its full delivery and implementation. Robust delivery and monitoring structures have been co-designed with stakeholders to ensure that strong focus and consistent oversight is kept on the realisation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: Government is committed to ensuring that disabled people are supported to live full lives of their own choosing, on an equitable basis with all others in society. The accessibility of towns and villages is very important in ensuring that disabled people can participate and thrive within their own communities. It is also complex, encompassing the provision of safe, reliable and accessible...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy for this question in relation to the provision of changing places toilet facilities. I know from my engagement with disabled people that this is a critical issue when it comes to participation in social and cultural life. Changing Places toilets are an important instrument for accessibility, ensuring greater accessibility of sanitary facilities to disabled people in...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: Under Part 3 of the Disability Act 2005, all public bodies are required to ensure that its public buildings are, insofar as practicable, accessible to persons with disabilities. Equally, where a service is provided by a public body, that body is obliged to ensure that the provision of access to the service by persons with disabilities is integrated. The National Human Rights Strategy for...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Disability Services (23 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy for their question regarding the Decision Support Service (DSS) and the Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) application system. EPAs are a vital advance planning tool that enable adults to plan ahead for a time when they may have diminished decision-making capacity, ensuring that a person’s wishes are known and respected. Ensuring that the EPA application process is...

National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030: Statements (17 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank all Members for their contributions to this discussion. As Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, I have witnessed at first hand the passion and commitment that disabled people bring to advocating for a more inclusive Ireland, and for continually highlighting the need to provide more and better services. The Government and I are very conscious of the struggles...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Disability and Equality: Departmental Staff (17 Sep 2025)

Hildegarde Naughton: The Action Plan for Disability Services 2024 – 2026, which was based on the Disability Capacity Review to 2032: “A Review of Disability Social Care Demand and Capacity Requirements up to 2032” sets out a need for 222 adult multidisciplinary therapy (MDT) posts by 2026. The cost is estimated by the HSE to be in the region of €17m. It must be noted, however, that...