Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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494. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will provide a timeline for the development and implementation of a national workforce strategy for children's disability network teams to address immediate and future staffing gaps; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40432/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Reflective of issues affecting the broader health and social care sector, the HSE and lead agencies are experiencing ongoing recruitment and retention challenges in disability services. While recruitment and retention of staff is a challenge across the sector overall, a significant priority for Government is filling vacancies within the 93 Children’s Development Network Teams (CDNTs).

The Progressing Disability Services Roadmap, launched by the HSE in October 2023, includes a set of staff retention, development and recruitment actions, now in train, which are critical to the delivery of Roadmap actions and the ongoing development of CDNT services to meet current and growing demand. The Roadmap and its progress reports are available to view on the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People section of the HSE website.

Whilst acknowledging the challenges, it is important to recognise that the CDNT workforce is growing year on year. HSE Children’s Disability Network Team workforce survey data for April 2025 demonstrates the progress that has been made over the past 18 months, with a nationwide increase of 26% in CDNT staffing levels since October 2023. Most significantly, the CDNT vacancy rate has reduced from 29% in 2023 to 18% in 2025 - a reduction of 11% nationally.

Last year the HSE appointed an Assistant National Director for the Disabilities Workforce to drive disability workforce initiatives with particular emphasis on enhancing CDNT capability. The HSE are continuing to drive intensive domestic and international recruitment efforts and to undertake a portfolio of workforce initiatives to support sustained growth of CDNTs and the wider disability service. Building a skilled pipeline of professionals for CDNTs involves active and sustained engagement with the employment market and with students, to improve the perception of and interest in working in CDNTs.

A dedicated Disability Workforce Strategy will be developed by the HSE later in 2025, to meet growing service demands and address recruitment and retention challenges across specialist disability services, including CDNTs. Work during 2025 is focusing on analysing retention challenges, understanding why workers stay and why they leave. This will form the foundation for a retention action plan with a range of initiatives to respond to the requirements of the existing workforce.

Increasing the disability workforce is key to delivering on the step change in disability services commitment contained in the Programme for Government.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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495. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps her Department is taking to transition away from emergency-only responses in disability support services towards a rights-based, planned model of support; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40434/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Service planning is principally an operational matter for the Health Service Executive (HSE). In that regard, I have referred this PQ to the HSE for direct response to the Deputy.

This Government is committed to delivering a ‘step-change’ in disability services and providing services and supports for disabled people that will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they chose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives.

In addition to the existing work in this regard, the forthcoming National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People, expected to be published later this year, will contain whole of government commitments for improved supports for independent living and to advance more inclusive services for disabled people, to be delivered more strategically over the course of the coming years.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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496. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality how Budget 2026 will address the shortfall in residential places for people with intellectual disabilities and autism; if she will commit to funding the 280 places outlined as a priority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40435/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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This Government recognises that disabled people have a right to have access to a range of in-home, residential, and other community support services to enable living and inclusion in the community.

The HSE, together with contracted service providers, is currently providing specialist residential services to 8,729 people with disabilities- an increase from 8,146 in 2021.

From 2020 to 2024, 709 new residential places have been provided to people with disabilities. An additional 67 places have been provided to May 2025, bringing the total to 776.

Demand for residential placements is extremely high. The provision of residential services has come under increasing pressure in the past few years due to a number of impacting factors including:

• The increasing cost of new residential placements.
• Recruitment challenges which are impacting all areas of disability services.
• Changing support needs of current service users, resulting in increased costs for additional adaptions and services to meet changing needs.
• Constraints in the availability of suitable housing.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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497. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will outline the number of vacant positions in the Kilkenny-Thomastown CDNT area; the length of time that each position has remained vacant; the efforts being made to recruit the necessary professionals; the number of children on the waiting list; if those waiting the longest will be referred to private specialists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40445/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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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.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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498. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if Budget 2026 will include a 3% increase in base funding for disability services to reflect rising inflation and increased operational costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40503/25]

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 through residential, respite, day services, personal assistance, home support, multidisciplinary supports and other community supports.

In 2025, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality funded HSE Disability Services with an allocation exceeding €3bn for the first time ever and standing at €3.2bn in total. This represents an increase of €333m or 11.5% over the 2024 allocation and follows a number of year on year increases.

In Budget 2025, we recognised the challenges that prevail in the disability sector. These challenges include the increased cost of service provision, pay cost pressures and service provider sustainability. In recognition of this, of the additional €333m invested through Budget 2025, €290 million was allocated to maintain existing levels of service. The Department has also provided supplementary funding to the HSE to ensure no disruption to disability service delivery.

While I acknowledge there are funding, operational and governance challenges in the sector, it is worth noting that financial challenges in particular are highly complex. The significant year-on-year funding increases in recent years are welcome, however, we need to also look at how we can be more effective with our existing disability budget and how service delivery models can adapt to deliver in a more sustainable way. My Department continues to work with key stakeholders to identify, assess and address constraints; to create a more effective, and sustainable disability sector.

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 all volunteers and staff in Disability Services do in supporting people to live their best possible lives.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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499. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will commit to providing ring-fenced funding to address the current and historic financial deficits experienced by voluntary disability service providers such as an organisation (details supplied). [40504/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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While I set the strategy, policy direction and the overall allocation for the sector, funding allocations to individual service providers is an operational matter for the HSE as the funding authority. The Department provides funding to the HSE to deliver specialist disability services either directly or via grant funding to Voluntary Organisations under Section 38 and Section 39 of the Health Act. There is a statutory obligation upon the HSE under the Health Act to plan and deliver services within the agreed allocation.

In allocating funding to service providers, the HSE takes into account the resources available, Ministerial strategic priorities, national targets for service expansion, regional need and capacity of service providers to deliver.

As we enter the next Estimates process, there will be an opportunity to further consider these funding allocations. The Department will engage with the HSE, as part of the Estimates process, to determine funding priorities.

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.