Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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135. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if he will outline the measures being taken to address the inconsistency and disruption in therapy services experienced by young people with disabilities when they turn 18 (details supplied); the plans in place to ensure continuity of care and a seamless transition between child and adult therapy services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38018/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Disability Capacity Review estimated that multidisciplinary therapy services across all ages needed to grow by roughly two thirds over the period 2018-27, to tackle unmet need and address unticipated demographic change.

While therapists and other multidisciplinary staff working with disability service providers traditionally provided support to both children and adults, the deployment of a large number of those staff into local Children’s Disability Network Teams has reduced the availability of this resource to serve adults who attend specialist disability services.

While the main priority in the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026 will be given to early intervention through children’s services, it is recognised that progress will also need to be made toward tackling the shortfall in access to multidisciplinary supports for adults.

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.