Aidan Farrelly
Question:957. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the estimated full year costs of providing 135,000 additional personal assistant hours. [10314/26]
View answerTuesday, 10 February 2026
Questions (957)
Written answers
Personal assistance (PA) is recognised as a core mechanism for fulfilling the rights of disabled people to live independently and participate fully in the community. The service is commonly characterised by its self-directed nature, enabling disabled people to exercise more choice and control over their service by determining what support they need as well as the activities they need support with.
Almost 3,000 people with disabilities in Ireland are currently in receipt of PA with funding provided under Budget 2026 to deliver approximately 50,000 additional hours this year.
The cost of delivering 135,000 additional PA hours is as follows:
€32.73 x 135,000 = €4,418,550.