Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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393. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 318 of 18 September 2025, if she will instruct her Department to provide supports to carers of children with additional needs in order to purchase necessary equipment to safely travel with their children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52746/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It is entirely open to the health professional in the HSE to determine what equipment is essential to safely meet the needs of the child. All equipment to be used for the support needs of individuals must be prescribed and risk assessed.

It is important to have due regard to the rights of child in the use of a restriction in the provision of supports and services. Services have a responsibility to reduce imminent risk of harm, mitigate for a risk of harm and prevent, reduce and eliminate the use of restrictions. With good governance, risk can be reduced, safety maintained and restrictions made redundant.

The situation, needs and requirements of each child with disabilities and the supports required to meet those needs is unique and specific to each child.

The Community Funded Schemes (CFS) is a collective name for all the many products, supports, supplies, appliances and aids that are provided through community services.

Based on satisfying the eligibility criteria, people living with disabilities are, like other people living with a broad range of medical conditions, eligible for Medical/surgical aids and appliances that facilitate and/or maintain mobility and/or functional independence. The HSE provides assistive devices to thousands of people with disabilities to enable them to maintain their health, optimise functional ability and to facilitate care in their primary care setting.

The HSE currently spends in excess of €250m per annum on these products and services. The scale of the programme is extensive, and many thousands of items are provided from community-based services across the country.