Written answers
Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Disability Services
Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)
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737. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the length of the waiting list is for a child to see a children’s disability network team for a child resident in Finglas, Ballymun, Whitehall and Beaumont; and when a child (details supplied) will be seen by the CDNT; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7176/25]
Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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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.
Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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738. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the reason funding to further develop services in Cork and Kerry for residential care for persons with disabilities has not been allocated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7191/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, 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.
Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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739. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of new residential care beds for persons with disabilities delivered following the Disability Capacity Review, published in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7192/25]
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As of December 2024, approximately 90 service providers delivered residential services to 8,660 individuals throughout the country.
A number of new emergency residential places have been added to the residential base, which results in a capacity increase. However, it should also be noted that Residential Capacity will also reduce during the year as a result of the loss of places in congregated settings, which cannot be re-utilised. This is in keeping with Government policy, which is to move away from institutionalised settings.
Residential places provided from 2021 to 2024
The following figures, as provided by the Health Service Executive (HSE), show the number of residential places delivered from 2021 to 2024, exceeded the number targeted.
| Year | NSP target | Priority 1 places provided | Planned places provided | Total places provided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | 91 | 25 | 106 |
| 2022 | 96 | 103 | 11 | 114 |
| 2023 | 43 | 160 | 0 | 160 |
| 2024 | 96 | 221 | 0 | 221 |
Demand
Demand for residential placements is extremely high and exceeds that which can be currently provided; the Disability Capacity Review addressed unmet and demographic need, which the Action Plan for Disability Services aims to address.
While the preference is to have planned provision of residential services, the nature and level of demand is such that the placements delivered tend to be in response to emergency need.
Budgetary Investment
€106.6m in additional funding has been provided to residential services in Budget 2025. This includes €78.68m to meet the incremental cost of 2024 new developments and €27.9m new funding in respect of 2025. This will support the full year cost of places delivered in 2024 and in the order of 70 new priority 1 places, will support additional moves from nursing homes and decongregation to community settings.
Challenges facing Disability Residential Services
The provision of residential services has come under increasing pressure in the past few years due to a number of impacting factors such as:
- An increase in the number of individuals seeking access to residential services as a reflection of general population increase,
- Changing support needs of service users,
- Health and safety requirements for staff,
- Recruitment challenges impacting all areas of disability services,
- Availability of suitable housing.
The Department of Health’s 2021 Disability Capacity Review projected a need for a minimum of an additional 1,900 residential places by 2032 and an extra 3,900 in order to return to levels of provision prior to the beginning of the 2008 recession.
In the shorter term, The Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026, published on 14th December 2023, represents a national strategy for capacity increases and service and policy reform in disability services. It was informed primarily by findings from the Disability Capacity Review. The Action Plan seeks to meet extra need over the 2024-2026 period in residential services through:
- Around 900 additional residential care places to tackle unmet needs and ensure supply keeps pace with demographic change;
- 500 new community-based residential care places to replace disability care in large institutional and campus-based settings, with a view to ending that form of provision by 2030;
- Increase support for people with disabilities to access supported independent living
- Provision of supports to live at home, in order to phase out long-term care in a nursing home for younger people with disabilities
- Around 550 additional intensive support packages to be put in place over 2024-2026, to limit need for high-cost residential care places.
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