Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1306. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the estimated capital cost of providing 1,200, 1,450 and 1,700 additional day service places for school leavers and graduates of rehabilitative training, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17912/23]

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1307. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the current cost, including staff and operating cost, of providing 1,200, 1,450 and 1,700 additional day service places for school leavers and graduates of rehabilitative training, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17913/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1306 and 1307 together.

Adult day services are HSE funded programmes to provide day service supports to people, age 18 and over, with intellectual disabilities, autism, or people with complex physical disabilities. These services are demand led and the number of new places in any year reflects the number of applications from young people leaving school. Additional funding of €8.5m in 2023 will support approximately 1,400 people with disabilities who are leaving school to transition into adult day services from September, with a full year cost of €27m in 2024. Once vacancies are taken into account, and in the light of demographic change, approximately 1,200 new places are needed in 2023 to ensure all eligible school leavers can get a day service place.

There were no significant capital costs allocated in Budget 2023 associated with the delivery of day services to school leavers. The new developments allocation includes non pay costs to prepare buildings for new intake and for the lease/rent of new buildings to facilitate new intake.

The majority of young people due to leave school in a given year that require a HSE funded day service have been profiled by the end of the previous year to establish their support needs. Once needs are identified, referrals are made to the service provider of choice, funding is committed and negotiations are concluded with providers by end of May to confirm placements to young people and their families. In many instances young people due to leave school at end of June are introduced to their day services for trialling purposes during April, May and June so there is a natural transition into day services in September.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1308. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide details of the HSE Funding for Transitions to Adult Supports for Autistic People; if he will provide more information about how funds are allocated between different CHOs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17950/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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HSE-funded day programmes for people with intellectual disabilities, autism, or complex physical disabilities include a range of centre-based and community-based activities. Access to services is based on an individual’s needs rather than on their diagnosis. The focus is on supporting people to participate in the mainstream activities and in the life of their community, in line with their wishes and needs.

Day services are a vital support for adult with disabilities to participate in the life of their community and to realise their own ambitions and desires. The majority of young people due to leave school in a given year that require a HSE funded day service have been profiled by the end of the previous year to establish their support needs. Once needs are identified, referrals are made to the service provider of choice, funding is committed and negotiations are concluded with providers by end of May to confirm placements to young people and their families. In many instances young people due to leave school at end of June are introduced to their day services for trialling purposes during April, May and June so there is a natural transition into day services in September.

New development funding of €8.5m will support approximately 1,400 people with disabilities who are leaving school to transition into adult day services in 2023, with a full year cost of €27m in 2024.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1309. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will outline his engagement with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment concerning the provision of grants to employers to facilitate the employment of individuals with a disability. [17951/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister of State with Responsibility for Disability, I am committed to removing the barriers faced by people with disabilities in accessing employment. My Department plays a significant coordination role in this regard through the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities (CES).

The CES is the primary disability employment policy initiative in Ireland. It is a cross-government approach, bringing together actions by Government Departments and Agencies to address the barriers and challenges to employment of persons with disabilities. The CES’s strategic priorities are to build skills, capacity and independence, to provide bridges and supports into work, to make work pay, to promote job retention and re-entry to work, to provide coordinated and seamless supports and to engage employers.

Under the CES framework, my Department plays a coordination role in ensuring that disability measures are coherent and integrated, with specific actions continuing to be the responsibility of the relevant Departments and agencies. This includes engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on a number of actions assigned to it under the CES.

In terms of specific employment supports and grants provided by Government to promote and facilitate the employment of people with disabilities, the Department of Social Protection, through the Reasonable Accommodation Fund, supports jobseekers, existing employees with disabilities, and private sector employers seeking to hire or retain a person with a disability.

The Reasonable Accommodation Fund is being reviewed, as per commitments under the CES. The review aims to improve the effectiveness of the support provided, identify gaps in provision, and improve application and payment processes. In Budget 2023, an additional €1 million in funding was announced by the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys T.D., to expand the provision made under the Reasonable Accommodation Fund and to support the recommendations from the forthcoming review.

In addition to this and whilst not directly targeted at persons with disabilities, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment also provides supports to employers, including self-employed people, through their network of Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs).

My officials will continue to work and engage with counterparts in the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Social Protection, through the CES and bilaterally, to explore how the State can continue to support  people with disabilities who seek to enter into the workforce. For more specific details on the supports referenced, I would encourage the Deputy to reach out to the relevant Ministers.