The Programme for Government recognises the requirement for a whole-of-government approach to advance the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
In 2025, this Government published the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030.
The Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, will work in collaboration with a number of other Departments and agencies including the HSE and Local Authorities, to advance Pillar 3 of the Strategy, which outlines a collective approach to provide a clear pathway for disabled people to access the supports they require to live independently and address societal barriers that impact on their daily lives.
The work undertaken in line with this strategy will support a move to a more planned approach to providing residential supports to people with disabilities.
As of December 2025, approximately 90 service providers are delivering 8,911 specialist disability residential places. Between 2020 and 2025, 955 new residential places have been provided to people with disabilities.
The Department of Children, Disability and Equality continues to engage with the HSE, to expand and develop residential services for people with disabilities. A number of actions are underway to move towards a more planned approach to providing residential care.
Budget 2026 has provided approximately €3.9 billion to Specialist disability services, up 20% on last year.
This Budget includes additional funding for residential and respite services to expand and increase provision in these areas to support people with disabilities and their families and carer(s).
As per the HSE’s 2026 National Service Plan, this will support an increase of 199 new residential responses in 2026, which will include 152 newly developed places. The 2026 National Service Plan includes details of a move towards a more planned and responsive system of service provision to include the development of 72 new planned residential placements, and progress reflected in key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure transparency and accountability in meeting service needs.
These planned places will be able to respond to residential needs demonstrated on the HSE’s DSMAT profiling tool. Generally, the majority of people with disabilities who receive new residential placements are currently living with their parent(s) or carer(s) and it should be expected that a number of the new planned places and unplanned urgent places funded in 2026, will be provided to people with disabilities, living with older parents.
In 2026, with allocated funding, the HSE has begun work to establish Residential Placement Planning & Review Teams in each Regional Health Area. The aim of these teams will be to ensure that individuals are appropriately assessed in relation to support needs prior to placement in residential services and reviewed in a timely manner for duration of the placement in respect of quality of care and support needs.
HSE Disability programme leads are developing a procurement framework for residential placements with for-profit agencies which will focus primarily on purchasing placements on a group basis. This is expected to improve the ability of the HSE to negotiate more cost-effective placements. The procurement framework is expected to be in place by Quarter two 2026.
The Department of Children, Disability and Equality is engaging with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Housing Authorities, and the HSE, to explore means of responding to the need for additional capacity, which can assist forward planning and cost-effective placements.
As this question includes issues related to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly in respect of the relevant matters.
