Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1956. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when the evaluation of the personal budgets pilot will be completed; when the results of the evaluation will be published; and when it is expected that the findings of the pilot will be implemented, in order to ensure that individuals with disabilities, and their families, can plan with certainty for the availability of personal budgets to support further education and independent living. [45919/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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A personalised budget is an amount of funding allocated to an eligible person with a disability to enable them to make their own arrangements to meet specified support needs. A key strength of the personalised budget model is the enhanced autonomy and flexibility it offers. Individuals’ can select services that are most relevant and meaningful to them, defining the quality, scope, and delivery of their supports.

To test the delivery of personalised budgets in an Irish context, the Personalised Budget Demonstrator Pilot was established in 2019.

In May 2025, the Demonstrator Pilot commenced its evaluation phase and it is envisaged to conclude by year end. Led by the National Disability Authority, the evaluation will provide critical insights into the barriers and facilitators to rolling out personalised budgets on a larger scale and will therefore inform next steps towards the development of an effective model of personalised budgets model in Ireland.