Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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858. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of advocates in the National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities; and the estimated full-year cost of increasing the number of advocates by six, 10 and 25 staff, respectively, in tabular form. [30742/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS) provides an independent, confidential, free issues-based representative advocacy service that works exclusively for the person using the service. The NAS adheres to professional standards and it has a particular remit for people with disabilities who are isolated from their community and services, have communication differences, are inappropriately accommodated, live in residential services, attend day services or have limited informal or natural supports.

NAS is funded and supported by the Citizens Information Board (CIB), which has a mandate under the Citizens Information Act 2007 to provide advocacy for people with disabilities. The NAS operational grant from the Citizens Information Board for 2021 is €3,157,391.

The number of advocates (including 8 senior advocates) in NAS is 36 advocates.

Based on 2021 costs, the following table shows the estimated cost if the number of advocates based on the current ratio of advocates to senior advocates was increased by 6, 10 and 25 staff respectively.

The estimates detailed above include employer PRSI and pension contributions. The figures do not include any additional administrative overheads or managerial costs which may be incurred were the number of advocate posts to be increased.