Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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1366. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 795 of 25 February 2025, wherein you stated that a total of €949,718.86 had been spent to end of 2024 on the administrative and staffing costs associated with the running of the Personalised Budget Demonstrator Pilot, considering that €3.5 million was made available to meet these stated costs over the lifetime of the Pilot, what will happen to the €2.55 million approximately unspent if the project does not offer a means for a wider roll-out of the model following the publication of the Evaluation Report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11342/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The overarching aim of the Personalised Budgets Demonstrator Pilot is to test the delivery of personalised budgets in an Irish context with a view to identifying the best approach for a wider roll-out of the model.

The Pilot was established and initially funded by the Department of Health. At the time of its establishment, the costs for the set-up, administration and evaluation of the Pilot were estimated at €1.3m by the Department of Health.

While the Pilot operated on a cost-neutral basis, with no additional expenditure in terms of the actual personalised budgets, the administrative and staffing costs associated with the running of the Pilot each year are outlined in the following table.

My Department currently funds the costs for the Pilot following the transfer of functions from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in 2023. The spend for the Personalised Budget Demonstrator Pilot is subject to the yearly Budget Estimates process.