Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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268. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the additional capital and current funding needed to fully progress the decision support service to be fully operational and to be in a position to offer services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37020/21]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Decision Support Service (DSS) has made considerable progress in putting in place the administrative and IT systems needed to operate the 2015 Act. To this end a budget of €5.8 million was secured for the Decision Support Service for 2021, a significant increase on its €3.5 million 2020 budget.

The additional budget in 2021 is intended to ensure that there is no financial impediment to the establishment of the DSS. The funding, in the main, covers ICT development, Recruitment, Communications and Office Expenses. The DSS is on track to open for business, on schedule, in June 2022. Work is being undertaken within the context of the estimates process to identify the DSS's funding needs for 2022.