Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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86. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if his Department has plans to improve access to personal assistant hours; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25773/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Personal Assistant (PA) service was developed to provide a service for adults with physical disabilities that enables them to live their lives as independently as possible and take decision making control. The person with the disability either directly employs the PA or is involved in the process of selecting the PA to work with them. The person with the disability determines the support they need and the activities they need support with. PA and Home Support Services are provided either directly by the HSE or through a range of voluntary service providers.

The National Service Plan 2023 outlines the HSE’s commitment to deliver 1.77m hours of PA services this year. This represents an additional 70,370 personal assistant hours this year to expand and enhance the supports for people to live self-directed lives in the community.

As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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87. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps he is taking to provide respite services for disabled people and children with disabilities in Cork; the number of beds currently available in CHO 4; the number of people waiting for respite; the efforts being made to increase respite availability for people with disabilities in CHO 4; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25954/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As the query relates to service matters, I am referring it to the HSE for direct response to the Deputy.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will provide an update on the targeted domestic and international recruitment campaigns that are in place to hire staff for children’s disability network teams; if he will clarify how many vacant posts there are in CHO 4 for speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists and occupational therapists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25955/23]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As this refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.