Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join Senator Byrne in acknowledging my friend and former colleague, Damien English, who was a source of great wisdom and advice to me in all my years in public life. It is lovely to see him here today with his guests.

I thank Senator Byrne for raising this important issue and affording me the opportunity to respond. We know there are many reasons people seek residential supports. For some it is by way of services to allow them to remain in their homes with family, while for others, it is a residential service. The aim has been to facilitate living and inclusion in the community. Increasing the provision of disability residential services is a key priority area for this Government and the HSE and there has been significant investment in residential services over recent years. We have seen significant increases in investment in specialist disability services, with a budget increase from €1.7 billion at the close of 2017 to in excess of €3.2 billion in 2025. Supporting residential services accounts for approximately 58% of the total specialist community-based disability services budget.

In this year's budget, €107 million was provided to residential services, €79 million of which will meet the incremental cost of 2024 new residential services and €28 million is additional funding for 2025. This funding will also support additional moves from nursing homes and decongregation to community settings. As of January 2025, approximately 90 service providers supported more than 8,600 residential places. As of mid-2024, however, there were in excess of 1,400 applications for residential services. This number does not include those who might be prioritised for decongregation, those who are under the age of 65, are in nursing homes and require a residential place, and young people with disabilities who are ageing out of Tusla and who require residential services.

All applications for residential services are managed by the HSE, taking into account the needs of the individual. However, the nature and level of demand is such that the placements delivered can tend to be in response to emergency needs and often only those with the highest priority can be placed. Over recent years, the number of residential places delivered has exceeded what was initially envisaged in the HSE national service plan. In 2024, 220 new residential places were delivered. There were 23 new places in the CHO 3 area, which covers Clare, Limerick, north Tipperary and east Limerick. While residential services can be an appropriate response to a person’s needs, it is worth pointing out that it can be more appropriate to support people to remain in their homes with their families. The specialist disability budget also supports a range of measures to this end, including home support and respite services.