Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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798. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she supports the work of an organisation (details supplied) which as a Section 39 organisation has provided services to people with disabilities in the State for the past sixty two years; if she accepts that the current level of funding is insufficient to meet the needs of the organisation and if this will be addressed in the coming months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39236/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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My Department, through the HSE, provides funding support to statutory and voluntary organisations who provide specialist community-based disability services in residential, respite and day settings. Similarly, the Department provides funding via the HSE for other services such as personal assistance, home support, multi-disciplinary supports and other community supports.

While my Department sets the strategy, policy direction and the overall allocation for the disability sector, funding allocations to individual service providers is an operational matter for the HSE as the funding authority.

In 2024, the department provided an overall allocation of €3 billion to the HSE. Of this, the HSE provided €30.6m to the Cheshire Foundation in Ireland.

Please note that the level of funding available to each Government department is being considered as part of the national estimates and budgetary process for 2026, which is currently underway. Pending completion of this process, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage.

I would like to acknowledge the important work the volunteers and staff in Cheshire Ireland do in enabling people who have complex and high support needs to live their best possible life.