Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1846.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans for assessing the best means of carrying out assessments of needs and therapies provision for those with autism; the interim services that will be made available while this assessment is being made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32360/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1847.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on the progress being made in workforce planning for staffing disability services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32361/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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While progress continues to be made in tackling systemic staffing challenges across a range of disciplines and grades, the HSE and lead Agencies continue to experience difficulties in recruiting staff to maximum capacity in the disability sector. These challenges are reflective of the issues affecting the wider health and social care sector, and are impacting the ability of the HSE and other disability service providers to fully deliver on their vital work. The Government is committed to resolving these challenges and delivering real and tangible solutions which enhance services to better support the needs of disability service users across Ireland.

Following the Capacity Review undertaken in 2021, the subsequent Disability Action Plan was published on the 14th of December 2023. The Action Plan underpins the Government's commitment to expanding services for people with disabilities. It aims to progressively address unmet needs by enhancing and reforming services, including the creation of additional disability service posts and recruitment for these positions. The Government's commitment to people with disabilities is demonstrated by increasing funding levels, with a record €2.8 billion being provided in 2024 for specialist services, including €74m under the first year of the Disability Action Plan.

While recruitment and retention of staff is a challenge across the sector overall, a significant priority for Government is filling vacancies within the 93 Children’s Disability Network Teams (CDNTs). Reflecting on the issue within CDNTs, the Progressing Disability Services (PDS) Roadmap establishes a set of priority workforce actions to address current vacancies and expand recruitment across children’s disability services throughout 2023-2026.

Under my leadership, an Interdepartmental Workforce Steering Group has been established to direct efforts to address workforce supply needs in all sectors of Disability Services. The group meets at least quarterly and is focused on both immediate and longer term staffing needs. Immediate staffing needs include targeted recruitment drives, streamlining hiring processes, and collaboration with further and higher educational institutions to fast-track qualified graduates into the workforce.

Importantly, a new Assistant National Director (AND), with dedicated strategic responsibility for the disability workforce has been recruited to the HSE National Office, at the request of my Department. This new leadership position has been in place since mid-May 2024 and has been tasked with enhanced the supply and recruitment of disability workforce, including the development of a disability-specific workforce strategy in 2024.

While there are undoubtedly significant challenges facing the disability sector, it is important to note that the disability workforce has grown by approx. 2,560 WTE workers since December 2019. While this demonstrates real progress, there is still much to be done and I am wholly committed to ensuring that disability services have the workforce necessary to deliver their vital services.