Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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1003. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality her plans, the timeline and estimated cost to deliver around 1,200 additional day service places each year to ensure places for school leavers who require them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47568/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Day Services are a key component of support services that enable people to live within the community. The New Directions Policy, which was published in 2013, outlines the manner in which adults with disabilities receive disability day services. This policy is underpinned by the values of person centredness, community inclusion, active citizenship and quality.

This policy is in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities which articulate the rights of people with disabilities to avail of the whole range of public services that are available to all citizens of the state. The guiding principle for Health Service Executive (HSE) funded day services is that supports will be tailored to individual need and will be flexible, responsive and person-centred.

There are 19,591 individuals with a disability in receipt of day services, together with a further 2,049 in Rehabilitative Training services (June 2025). These services are provided at 1,091 locations around the country by 97 service provider agencies.

Day services expand every year to meet the needs of over 2,000 people leaving school or rehabilitative training that are referred to the HSE Day Opportunities teams each year. The Day Opportunities teams are currently working with people referred and providers to ensure placements are available from September, in line with the person’s support needs and within the funding resources available.

The Action Plan for Disability Services 2024 – 2026 states that on average, around 1,200 additional day service places are required each year to ensure places for school leavers who require them.

The HSE estimates that the cost of 1,200 additional places in 2026 would be €38,297,600. This excludes the cost of setting up new locations, transport and MDT support costs. This excludes inflation costs.

Please note, however, that 2025 placement negotiations are still under way and service providers are requesting greater funding due to inflationary and other cost pressures. These costs are based on previous year’s negotiated placement costs and were subject to the funding available.