Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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219. To ask the Taoiseach to outline the remit of the disability unit at his Department, including whether it will be responsible for specialist community-based disability services; what responsibility it will have for implementation of "mainstream first" disability policy; whether it will be a policy-development unit; whether it will be responsible for driving disability accessibility in mainstream services; what responsibility it will have for managing or monitoring disability service costs; and how it will engage with service provider organisations, including statutory, section 38, section 39, tendered and for-profit. [17273/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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A disability unit is being established in Department of the Taoiseach. The unit will support the work of the Cabinet Committee on Disability. It will also support the work of the Minister for Children, Disability, and Equality and other Ministers in driving cross-government, inter-agency and inter-disciplinary working and collaboration to improve the lives of people with disabilities and enable them to achieve their potential. The unit will, in effect “make things happen”.

A meeting with Ministers to fully tease out the programme of work for the unit and to establish how it can best add value and impetus to the disability agenda has taken place and this was followed by the Cabinet Committee on Disability which took place on 24th March. Officials are currently working to finalise details on the full set up of the unit and a programme plan.

It is important to ensure that the work of the unit does not duplicate others work, rather it should further drive innovation and give momentum to policy implementation. The Unit will respect the prerogative and responsibilities of individual Ministers. It is not intended to displace Ministerial or Departmental accountability and oversight for delivery. Ministers and Departments continue to hold primary responsibility for delivery of all Programme for Government commitments, for Oireachtas accountability and sectoral engagement.