Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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836. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the Programme for Government commitment to increase personal assistance hours to support independent living, as of July 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39526/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Personal Assistance is a service primarily for adults with physical disabilities that enables them to live their lives as independently as possible and to take decision making control. Typically, the person with the disability either directly employs the personal assistant or is involved in the process of selecting the personal assistant to work with them. The person with the disability determines the support they need and the activities they need support with.

Over €2m in funding was provided in 2024 for 80,000 additional PA hours with approximately 1.85m hours delivered to over 2,700 disabled persons in total last year.

A further €3m was provided in Budget 2025 to deliver 95,000 additional hours with 1.945m PA hours to be delivered to over 2,800 disabled persons by year end per the HSE’s National Service Plan 2025.

Funding levels available for a further increase in PA hours will be determined as part of the estimates process for Budget 2026.