Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 19 May 2026
905. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide a breakdown of the funding allocated to disability in 2026 with the subcategory allocated to respite, home support, P.A. hours and so on, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37251/26]
View answerOver the past five years, significant resources have been invested into specialist HSE Disability Services, with core funding increasing from €2.2bn in 2021 to €3.9bn in 2026.
Broadly, these specialist disability services include residential services, day services, respite, personal assistance and home support services, and multi-disciplinary support and services which are largely associated with children’s services.
The increase in 2026 represents a €628m or 20% increase on 2025 funding levels and reflects the Government’s commitment to strengthening the funding provided for the disability sector and to addressing the shortfalls identified in the Disability Capacity Review.
The Government is committed to the improvement of disability services across Ireland and the programme for government clearly reflects this. The recent publication of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 also provides a guideline for service improvement and strategic goals for the coming years.
The HSE is limited in its ability to disaggregate the Disability Services budget into specific service areas due to system and structure constraints. Due to this it is not possible to determine the exact cost of each category of service, but it can be estimated.
Using the % breakdown supplied by the HSE, the estimated split of the total annual allocation by service area, provided by the HSE, is set out in the Table below. Due to data constraints, these figures are to be taken as broadly indicative.
|
Specialist Disability Services |
% of allocation |
2026 in €m |
|
Residential Services |
58% |
2,217 |
|
Day Services |
25% |
956 |
|
Respite Services |
4% |
153 |
|
Personal Assistance and home Support Services |
5% |
191 |
|
Multi-disciplinary Supports & Services |
6% |
229 |
|
Community Supports & Services |
2% |
76 |
|
Total |
100% |
3,822 |
A further €43 million has been ring-fenced for capital funding to support Community Based Specialist Disability Services in 2026, the details of which can be found in the recently published HSE Capital Plan 2026.
