Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate – Dáil Éireann (34th Dáil) – Thursday, 28 May 2026

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Rental Sector

Deputy Joe Cooney

Changes to the tenant in situ scheme are of significant concern for some constituents who face the very real prospect of homelessness because a scheme that was working has been effectively dismantled. When a landlord decided to sell, the local authority could step in, buy the property and keep the family in their home. It was straightforward and cost-effective and it worked, but last year the Department made a critical change. Local authorities cannot reclaim the cost of refurbishing properties they buy under the scheme. That might sound like a minor detail, but it is not. It is a decision that is making the scheme unworkable. The result is that councils are walking away from these purchases. They are not walking away because the family does not need the home but because the scheme is financially unsustainable for them.

In County Clare, this matter is particularly serious. Our private rental stock is older than the national average. Properties in our more rural and coastal locations often need more refurbishment before they can be let as social housing. We can see the impact in the numbers. In 2023, this scheme delivered 1,830 acquisitions. In 2024, it was 1,501. Last year, 2025, there were only 775 houses delivered.

At its peak, the tenant in situ scheme accounted for 46% of all homelessness prevention activity nationally. By December of last year, that figure had fallen to 11%. According to a recent media report, Clare County Council has only spent €1.45 million out of its €4 million allocation, which is very disappointing. I personally know of several cases where the council would not purchase the house because of the cost of refurbishing it to modern rental standards.

This scheme was one of the State’s most effective tools for preventing homelessness. There should be no difference to the public purse whether this is achieved through the purchase and renovation of a property a tenant already lives in or moving them into a new build and renovating it afterwards. People in houses should be the measure of success, not the number of houses built. Preventing homelessness is the goal, regardless of what we do.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Niamh Smyth)

I thank Deputy Cooney for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Browne. I am happy to do so. I will pass on Deputy Cooney's thoughts and concerns about the tenant in situ scheme to the Minister.

Tenancy sustainment, also known as tenancy in situ, is not a stand-alone programme or scheme. It is a priority category under the Department of housing's social housing second-hand acquisitions programme, which helps to prevent social housing supported households in the private rental sector from becoming homeless. Such acquisitions are an option for local authorities to support households in the most precarious housing situations. They will continue to be available to local authorities for use as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted. However, they will never be the sole or even the primary option. The default first options should almost always be securing the sustainment of the tenancy with the landlord, securing alternative accommodation through the tenancy sustainment and placefinder services, or allocating a local authority or approved housing body tenancy via a new build home or relet. Where acquisitions are deemed necessary, local authorities may pursue individual priority acquisitions without recourse to the Department, once they satisfy the broad parameters and criteria of the second-hand acquisitions programme.

Some €373 million is available to be drawn down by local authorities and approved housing bodies under this year's programme. With more than 17,000 persons in emergency homeless accommodation, including more than 5,000 children, the primary focus of this year's programme is to help households to exit emergency homeless accommodation into permanent housing. To this end, the largest share of funding available for draw-down, some €150 million, is ring-fenced for acquisitions supporting households and taking them out of homelessness. Thereafter, some €50 million is available to approved housing bodies for urgent acquisitions for older people, those with disabilities and caregivers. The remaining €173 million comprises €157 million for local authority priority acquisitions, including tenant in situ purchases, and a contingency of €16 million for local authorities that have drawn down most of their allocation but can complete further acquisitions and draw down the funding from the Department before the end of the year.

Clare County Council has been allocated an initial €1.7 million, with €800,000 and €900,000 earmarked for approved housing body and local authority priority acquisitions respectively. Consistent with the eligibility criteria introduced last year, refurbishment or adaptation costs are no longer an eligible cost for tenant in situ acquisitions. Generally, extensive refurbishments of those properties should not be required. They already benefit from significant Exchequer-funded rent supports through the housing assistance payment or rental accommodation scheme and, critically, must comply fully with the housing regulations. If refurbishment is required, local authorities need only undertake works necessary to comply with the regulations, effectively ensuring that homes are immediately safe, secure and warm. In such cases, local authorities can draw on the significant rental funding available to them through their respective annual budgetary processes. Notably, Clare County Council's adopted budget for 2025 suggests only 77% of its rental income would be invested in social housing management and maintenance. Local authorities may also draw on their respective internal capital receipts, and the Department of housing's planned maintenance and voids programme.

Deputy Joe Cooney

As far as I can see, the scheme is not working as well as previously. I ask the Minister of State to consider a number of things to make it work better in the future. Reinstate the scheme to its original state. Failing that, reinstate it for properties where refurbishment costs are proportionate to a purchase which is often worse value. Provide county-level data on acquisitions that have been declined or not pursued since March 2005 due to the refurbishment cost barrier. Provide data from each local authority about the number of tenants who have presented as homeless, following the refusal to purchase the property under this scheme. Let us all see the scale of this problem. The tenant in situ scheme was built on a simple principle of keeping families in their homes. The refurbishment exclusion has undermined that principle. I ask the Minister of State to restore the old scheme. I think it would work better for people going forward.

Deputy Niamh Smyth

I will absolutely relay the Deputy's suggestions to the Minister. I will now read the remainder of the reply from the Department.

Local authorities may also draw on their respective internal capital receipts, and the Department of housing's planned maintenance and voids programme, energy efficiency retrofit programme, and disabled persons grants scheme, to support non-essential works that can be carried out in the long term. In this regard, Clare County Council projected that some €600,000 or so would be on hand via its internal capital receipts at the end of 2025, while a further €3.4 million is available to the council this year through the Department's stock improvement programmes. Ultimately, the delivery of new build social housing at scale is the only strategic solution preventing and alleviating long-term homelessness. Accordingly, and noting record delivery of new build social housing last year, demand for acquisitions should start to taper off as a greater level of new stock is delivered year on year. As I said, I will certainly relay Deputy Cooney's suggestions and observations to the Minister for housing and ask him to respond to the Deputy directly.

Waste Management

Deputy Gary Gannon

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. Dublin City Council's phase 3 bag-free streets programme will end plastic bag collection in Stoneybatter, Phibsborough, Broadstone, and other parts of the north-west inner city. It might feel like a good thing that we are removing plastic bags from rubbish collection. There have been incidents of seagulls opening bags which inevitably leads to rubbish being scattered and various related issues.

There is going to be a significant problem in that specific part of Dublin, however, on foot of this development because what is being proposed as an alternative involves a number of issues. The first of this is that there are going to be wheelie bins on streets that are in no way suitable for wheelie bins. The size of the bins that will be provided by the private operators involved means that take up half the footpath. If the Minister of State imagines streets like in Stoneybatter, there are rows upon rows of small terraced houses that either do not have back gardens or have gardens that are too small to house the wheelie bins on days when they are not being collected. That creates its own issues. On days when collections are taking place there will be wheelie bins taking up more than half the width of footpaths in communities where there are people with mobility issues. Wheelchair access is going to be prevented and anybody with a pram will simply have to move out onto the road.

I do not doubt the intention behind a plan like this, but the reality when it comes into place in a couple of weeks is going to be that will be rows of bins that will be an impediment to simply being able to get from their homes to their places of work and back. That is going be an issue. Councillors from all parties on Dublin City Council unanimously passed a motion several weeks ago in which they called for this initiative to be stopped. They advocated for that, but in the past couple of days, the private operators contacted residents in Broadstone, Phibsborough and Stoneybatter to let them know that this change will be coming into place. This is a change that will have ramifications for accessibility. The aesthetic is another thing, because having these bins on the streets will be a blight on the entire neighbourhood. However, that is not as important as the fact that people will have to go get off the footpath in order to walk up the street.

There are also cost implications. It costs €40 for the bag collection. The cost of the wheelie bin collection is €240. In a cost-of-living crisis, that is a substantial increase. This has been foisted upon residents to the point where they are lobbying for their TDs to come into this Chamber and advocate against a change in the method of waste management. That is not what I want to be doing. I want to be scrutinising legislation and proposing Bills, but this is going to have an impact on the city of Dublin, our capital city, and the communities in it.

I understand that the regulation of waste management comes under the Department of climate. I am asking for some form of intervention with Dublin City Council. This initiative has not been accessibility proofed. The residents will certainly not be able to store wheelie bins or anything like that in their homes.

What they are asking for is some form of intervention by the State that will oversee the regulatory approval of initiatives like this and ask for a pause in order that full accessibility proofing can be done and alternative suggestions can be proposed. There have been alternatives proposed in the context of compactors and other things. Everyone accepts that there is an issue but nobody accepts that this is the solution. The solution to one problem will create a host of new issues which will fall outside the remit of Dublin City Council into all sorts of other areas, and we will be back here again. That will not be fair on people with accessibility issues who will be forced to walk on the street, nor will it be fair for anyone with a pram. Then there are also the cost implications. I am interested in hearing the Minister of State's response.

Deputy Niamh Smyth

I am here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Brien. Waste management is a statutory executive function of local authorities. The phase-out of bags for the collection of waste is an initiative being taken by Dublin City Council, as the Deputy outlined. Under section 60(3) of the Waste Management Act, the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment is precluded from exercising any power or control, in specific circumstances, over the statutory functions of a local authority. That is not to say I will not relay the concerns the Deputy has outlined and see if there is any possibility of an intervention.

The collection of waste in bags was prohibited nationally over ten years ago, except in areas designated by local authorities as only being suitable for collection of waste in bags for reasons such as streets being too narrow or where there is no space within a property for three bins. In recent years, this was amended to collection by means of atypical collection solutions. If a household is in an area with no bin collection service, it may be able to avail of atypical collection solutions such as non-reusable receptacles or bags from the nearest collection point. Local authorities are responsible for designating areas as being only suitable for the collection of such waste by means of atypical collection solutions. Households can check with their local authorities if such a designation applies to their address and can organise a service with an authorised waste collection company accordingly.

Private waste collectors operate under a waste collection permit issued by the National Waste Collection Permit Office, NWCPO. These permits are subject to a set of standard conditions which include a requirement that waste collection charging systems should incentivise customers to source segregate their waste. This means that the fees charged for the collection of the brown bin or mixed dry recyclables bin should be lower than the fees for the collection of the residual general waste bin. All permits can be viewed in full on the NWCPO website.

The waste management market is serviced by private companies, where the terms and conditions of contracts, including payment methods, are matters between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable legislation, including contract and consumer legislation. The Minister has no role in relation to payment methods or setting prices in a competitive market.

The roll-out of this programme by Dublin City Council is an anti-litter and anti-dumping initiative. It will eliminate the presentation of domestic and commercial waste in bags, preventing the bags being ripped open by birds and vermin, thus making the streets cleaner. Affected households will need to switch to wheelie bins or use the new waste compactors. Any questions on the roll-out of the programme should be directed to Dublin City Council.

Deputy Gary Gannon

The State does set the regulatory framework that underpins the transition here. It is important that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, understands the consequences for people in my area in Stoneybatter, Broadstone and Phibsborough, who are being forced to enter into a free-for-all between different private operators on streets that are wholly unsuitable for the services they provide. Imagine the situation where two or three days a week where small residential streets where there will be bins preventing people from getting through footpaths. That is a substantial lacuna in the law and the policy.

Accessibility and public sector duty might even come into play here because how we provide for waste management services does have consequences for those. The Minister can potentially apply public sector duty to ensure there is accessibility proofing done of this decision. We are paying the consequences of this bad privatisation of waste management. The ideal scenario for most of us would be for waste management services to come back under the remit of local authorities.

As it stands, people in Stoneybatter, Phibsborough and Broadstone will have to choose between competing operators and providers. They do not have anywhere to store the large bins they will be expected to purchase at a cost that is substantially higher than they paid previously. For all that, they will not only have seagulls picking their bags but they will also will face impediments in the context of getting up and down their streets.

These decisions that will have consequences. I am asking that the Minister intervene simply by asking Dublin City Council if this is the best policy for this particular part of Dublin. It is a much-discussed area because it is in the central part of the capital city. The policy in this regard is nonsensical. Dublin City Council is trying to remove from itself the cost involved in picking up scattered rubbish, but the consequences will be felt by people who cannot get up and down their streets.

Deputy Niamh Smyth

It is widely recognised there are difficulties with the collection of household waste in bags, including the littering caused as a result of bags being ripped, which we often see. There are health and safety issues for collectors whereby sharp objects are placed in bags, litter caused by fly-tipping on streets in areas where bag collections take place, little or no segregation of recyclables or food waste and the inability to gather data on waste collected for statistical and environmental reporting purposes.

The Department, in consultation with local authorities, set criteria to be applied nationally with a view to phasing out bags except for areas where it is not practical to use wheelie bins and have been designated by local authorities as suitable for the use of atypical collection solutions. The criteria for these designated areas are: no space within the boundary of the property, which is the argument the Deputy is making; physical features would make it difficult to move a bag to the front or edge of the property or nearest boundary for presentation, or that it would be unreasonably difficult; that the area is too narrow for a refuse collection vehicle to access properties and the nearest designated collection point or suitable presentation point is more than 100 m from the property; and where the local authority is notified of exceptional circumstances and certifies it as same.

While waste legislation and policy are a matter for the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, the bag-free streets programme is entirely an initiative for Dublin City Council. The council reports that illegal dumping has reduced by approximately 20 tonnes per month since the introduction of the programme and has contributed significantly to the very positive findings of the most recent Irish Business Against Litter survey, which noted a reduction in littering and an improved level of cleanliness. These improvements have delivered savings in terms of resources required - the Deputy acknowledged that argument – as well as collection and disposal costs for waste management services. I will relay Deputy Gannon’s concerns to the Minister.

National Parks and Wildlife Service

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter for discussion. It relates to something that I find myself returning to repeatedly. While housing continues to be the number one issue in County Kildare and in other parts of the country, there is huge public anger around the manner in which the Curragh Plains are managed or not managed as the case might be. What is the Curragh? It is a 5,000-acre stretch of land resting between the areas of Kilcullen, Kildare and Newbridge. It is a proglacial fluvial plain formed during the Ice Age. I did not witness its formation, but I accept what we are told.

The Curragh sits on a bedrock of limestone. Under that limestone, is a huge aquifer which, we are told, is one of the largest in the country. Interestingly, the aquifer in question feeds water into Pollardstown Fen. That is interesting because, quite recently, within a couple of kilometres of the Curragh, Guinness spent €300 million opening a new production plant and committed to spending another €400 million on the second phase of that plant. It is also interesting because the first Guinness was allegedly made with water from Pollardstown Fen. The Currragh is used for legitimate purposes. Sheep are grazed there, the bloodstock industry uses it and the Defence Forces has its headquarters there. It was also used during the British occupation. It is an amenity that is used for numerous recreational purposes.

It is a great place I am told on a good moonlit night to observe the skies. I have not been doing that myself for a long time but nonetheless I understand that is the case.

What is required now is a new management structure and that management structure is committed to in the programme for Government. Why is it needed? It is needed because of misuse of the plains, and unregulated use and overuse leading to the degradation of the national and local resource the Curragh Plains are. What is the problem? Bloodstock is using the plains. That is well managed by the racecourse and HRI, and it is well regulated. Sheep farming for the most part is controlled and well regulated. It is on a headage and lease basis, although some would argue there are far more sheep grazing now than perhaps there should be. There is certainly more than was obvious in the aftermath of the restrictions introduced during foot and mouth some decades ago. The leisure and amenity use is widespread and accepted but there is abuse of driving on the plains, indiscriminate parking, scrambling and other uses being made. Fly tipping is a huge problem.

However, one of the most acute difficulties in recent years has been the regular establishment over the past decade of illegal encampments on the plains. I pay tribute to the former Minister for Defence and the current Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris. He was the first person to seriously tackle that matter. Once he got his teeth into it, the Department of Defence moved rapidly each year to clear these illegal encampments. I pay tribute to the Secretary General, Jackie McCrum, and to Jason Kearney, the property manager there. There is huge expense being incurred by the State each year going to court to get court orders and carrying out the clean ups. It is not sustainable that would continue. We need a new management system in place, and we need it urgently.

Deputy Niamh Smyth

I thank the Deputy for raising this incredibly important matter. I am here to respond on behalf of the Minister for Defence, who unfortunately cannot be here, but she sends her apologies to the House. I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter. I acknowledge Deputy Ó Fearghaíl’s long-standing interest in the protection, conservation and preservation of the Curragh Plains and his ongoing engagement with officials in that regard. The Curragh, as State land vested in the Minister for Defence, is recognised as a working environment for the State's Defence Forces as well as being a place of historical and cultural importance. The main occupiers are the Defence Forces in the Curragh Camp and the Curragh Racecourse, which leases a large tract of land. Additionally, the plains are used by sheep owners who avail of rights of pasture on the lands, and by both locals and visitors to Kildare as a major natural amenity. I concur about its scenic beauty any time you drive through County Kildare. The Curragh is approximately 4,870 acres and is one of the most open, accessible, and arguably beautiful areas in this country.

As the Deputy will be aware, for the past several years, the Department of Defence has been collaborating with Kildare County Council on the Curragh consultancy project, seeking to develop a suitable future management method and to highlight the importance and significance of the heritage associated with the Curragh Plains. The project came to completion in December 2024 when the Curragh Plains conservation management plan and the associated branding, interpretation and wayfinding strategy were published. The consultation process identified the need for a review of the Curragh by-laws and the Curragh of Kildare Act, with potential amendments to provide effective solutions to challenges faced. The report also identified the need to consider a dedicated agency responsible for the Curragh, or to assign responsibility for the site to an existing agency with the necessary expertise to maximise the potential of the plains. Throughout the project, both the Department of Defence and Kildare County Council remained cognisant of the need to have in place a means of ensuring conservation of this ancient landscape, while also enabling the area to receive the recognition it deserves. The plan has laid out opportunities through which the area can be uniquely identified and also scoped out the development potential of the area as a high-value visitor attraction. It also aims to balance the needs of the respective users of the Curragh Plains, while caring for its natural qualities and providing clear policies for its sustainable future use.

As called for in the programme for Government, it is intended to implement the recommendations of the conservation plan for the Curragh, particularly in relation to transferring the plains to the agency that is best suited to managing this historic landscape. To this end, Department officials will continue to engage with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which has undertaken an initial scoping of its likely requirements. I understand further discussions are intended in the coming weeks. From this process it is intended to advise Government as to the appropriate way to manage the plains.

I again thank the Deputy for his question and assure him that the Minister’s intention is to ensure that the Curragh Plains, as an important element of our shared heritage, is protected into the future while also ensuring maximum benefit to the local population and to those who come to visit the plains. This Government is fully committed to pursuing a modern and sustainable regulatory model in managing this historically important landscape in the Curragh.

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

I thank the Minister of State for a positive reply. We have known for some time that the Government favours the idea of the National Parks and Wildlife Service taking on the management of the plains. I am not so sure the National Parks and Wildlife Service itself is wildly enthusiastic about the prospect. It involves huge additional financial resources, and extra manpower will be needed. Kildare County Council conducted widespread consultation when it drafted its consultation and management plan for the Curragh. It attracted more than 3,600 public submissions. It was the largest number of submissions ever received in respect of any project in County Kildare. It is indicative of the level of interest there is in getting this right. I think the National Parks and Wildlife Service would be the right body but it will have to look at the Curragh differently to how it looks at the Phoenix Park or other areas of national importance. It will have to ensure it can guarantee that the legitimate regulated use of the plains by the bloodstock sector, the sheep sector and those involved in recreation and amenity can continue in an orderly and regulated manner that does not contribute to any degradation of the plains. However, this illegal encampment process going on year-in, year-out is a cause of incredible frustration. It is driving investment away from the area. Remember, huge crowds of people come to the Curragh for the major racing festivals. They are very often people with money to spend. They are not terribly attracted to a county where these unauthorised developments take place. It is not that everyone who comes treats the place with disdain. We had people from France last year who came with their caravans, mobile homes, toilets and bins. That is all grand but they would not be able to do it in the Phoenix Park, and they should not be able to do it in Kildare.

Deputy Niamh Smyth

The Deputy's passion about this is obvious. The statement from the Minister, Deputy McEntee, acknowledges the contribution he has made over the years working with the Department of Defence and the National Wildlife and Parks Service as an entity that may take on the management of this beautiful, scenic, historic and important piece of landscape that we have on the island of Ireland. As I have already stated, the Minister remains committed to pursuing a modern and sustainable regulatory model to manage this historically important landscape in the Curragh. The Curragh Plains conservation management plan, finalised and published in 2024, is under consideration by officials in the Department of Defence. This will, however, provide the foundation for implementing the recommendations identified, including the progression of proposals for the future management of the plains. Any such proposals will be brought before Government to decide on a future management structure. I reiterate that it is the Government's intention to ensure the Curragh Plains are protected into future while ensuring and maximising the benefit to all stakeholders. I will relay the Deputy's point. The National Parks and Wildlife Service needs to act quickly to protect it, so we do not see caravans parking up, as they would not do in the Phoenix Park and should not do in the Curragh either.

Disability Services

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

I want to talk to the Minister of State about the Before We Die campaign, a grassroots, family-led campaign across the country. It deals with an issue that we in this country have neglected for too long, that being, not finding appropriate residential places for people with intellectual disabilities. Unfortunately, it took a number of parents in Cork to raise this matter, albeit the main instigator, Tony Murray, was based in Dublin. He started this campaign a number of years ago. I pay tribute to Sinéad, Janet, Linda and Esther, who are central to the Cork campaign.

I do not understand how we have got into this position. Frequently, the House is told that we have massive budget increases for various aspects of disability services. That is true on paper, with over €3 billion now being spent on disability services annually and €2.2 billion of that for residential services, but if you talk to the 350 or so people who were in the Silver Springs hotel this day last week with myself and Deputy Séamus McGrath, you will hear of very little residential support and virtually no respite support. Cork has always been a bit of a black spot in terms of lacking disability services. That was no more evident than when residential support was discussed that night. Three hundred and fifty people packed that room. Some of the people had intellectual disabilities themselves, but many were parents, particularly mothers.

The Before We Die campaign has done its own research. There are 1,500 adults in this country with intellectual disabilities who are living with carers who are aged 70 or older. Of those, 500 or so are living with carers aged 80 or over. I am sure that the Minister of State and Deputy Ó Fearghaíl hear of people in their constituencies needing emergency care and intervention. A case came to me not so long ago where someone living in Cork was offered emergency residential care in Meath. That is what we are doing to these people, sending them hundreds of kilometres away from their families. Many of these parents do not want to make the decision to let their adult children leave them, but because of their ages, they just cannot cope any more. Unfortunately, the State offers the solution - the section 38 organisations in Cork offer it – of going hundreds of kilometres away from home. This is normally done to address an emergency or crisis situation.

We have done no forward planning in the last five or six years. The most recent figures made available to us show that 43 residential places were provided nationally in 2023. The waiting list speaks for itself. There are thousands of people in this situation and we are doing nothing to address it.

Since I became involved with the Before We Die campaign in Cork, we have been able to arrange a number of meetings with Cork City Council and Cork County Council and we are doing things locally that are going to help improve people’s lives. The councils have each agreed to appoint a liaison officer to deal with families in these situations. Hopefully, the councils are now going to streamline the application process for social housing for these families.

We cannot forget that the section 38 and section 39 service providers have an obligation. Many have the capacity of housing bodies and can themselves deliver housing. We cannot let them shirk their responsibility.

What is the Department’s view on the Before We Die campaign? What interaction is it having with the campaign? What does it intend to do to solve this residential crisis?

Deputy Niamh Smyth

I thank the Deputy very much. I acknowledge the incredible work he does on rare diseases campaigning. The issue the Before We Die group campaigns on is another incredibly important one. The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, had hoped to be here but unfortunately she was not able to be. She acknowledges the great work the Deputy is doing and his raising of this important issue.

The Minister, Deputy Foley, recently met the Before We Die group and it is her understanding that An Taoiseach and the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Higgins, also met it, alongside HSE representatives. The Minister wishes to acknowledge the ongoing commitment and dedication of all involved with the Before We Die group. The Minister also wants to recognise their advocacy for increased residential service provision for people with disabilities and their efforts to shine a light on the very real challenges many of these parents and families continue to face.

The next piece of my speech is going to speak to what the Deputy addressed about the investment that is there. It is just so sad to hear that, when you meet those groups, their lived reality is something very different. The information from the Department tells us that, in 2026, €65 million has been allocated to disability residential services for new developments, which includes €40 million that will provide in the region of 199 residential responses, including 152 residential placements. The remaining €25 million will support in the region of 40 residential packages for children in care with complex needs, the enhancement of existing residential placements, decongregation transitions and the under-65s programme. The Department is working closely with the HSE to move from crisis-led residential placements towards a more planned and balanced approach, with HSE regions and voluntary providers identifying and prioritising individuals earlier to help prevent crisis situations.

The HSE National Service Plan 2026 places greater emphasis on longer term planning for residential placements, with stronger operational processes to respond to the high demand. HSE disability programme leads are developing a procurement framework for residential placements with for-profit agencies, which will focus on purchasing placements on a group basis with the aim of securing more cost-effective placements. The procurement framework is expected to be in place by quarter 2 of 2026. In addition, new HSE housing co-ordinators and residential planning and review teams will be in place this year to co-ordinate and oversee the delivery of the new residential placements and plan for future placements, many of which will be delivered in local authority homes.

The Ministers, Deputies Foley and James Browne, with their officials, have made significant progress through the implementation structures established under the national housing strategy for disabled people in improving co-ordination with the local authorities and disability service providers at local, regional and national levels. This includes establishing the levels of unmet need for specialist disability residential services in each county or local authority area. This will inform the setting of targets in the local authority housing development action plans for two cohorts of disabled people, namely, those living more independently in the community and those with greater support needs, who will receive specialist disability residential services. Some €25 million in new development funding for respite services in budget 2026 has afforded the HSE the opportunity to plan for the expansion of services, with a range of respite initiatives under way. The HSE national service plan targets the delivery of 10,000 additional respite overnight sessions and 25,000 additional respite day sessions this year.

I will come back with a little more information later.

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

I thank the Minister and welcome the initiatives. I spoke to the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Browne, in recent weeks and I knew that a plan was coming together. However, as many Deputies will know, I am a cynic in here. I do not understand how we are having this discussion in 2026 and how no one in the various Departments, but particularly the Department of disabilities, had a light bulb go off at some stage and realise that the Departments were not meeting the level of need. As the Minister of State read out from the speech she was given, there is an unmet need. We all know it. I will give the Minister of State an idea of the numbers. In June 2025, 1,389 people were awaiting residential placement. That was up from 776 in 2019, a 79% increase in five or six years. Did no one in the various Departments not realise there was a problem, given the nearly 100% increase in the demand for residential places? I do not even have time to discuss respite support.

It is welcome that the Ministers are getting together and that a plan is going to be in place, but it takes time to build these houses and deliver these units. If the plan started this year, it would be a couple of years before we saw those units being turned over. The budget allocation will provide for nearly 200 places, but in 2023, only 43 new residential places were provided in the entire country. It was a pitiful amount. What these people are asking for is their right, as they all have a right to housing. Some of them are well capable of living independently. Some require round-the-clock care. It is that diverse a cohort.

There are two matters I will mention that I would like the Minister of State to take back to the Minister, the first of which is decongregation.

I understand why we did it, but if you talk to the parents who have children with intellectual disabilities, including adult children, they will say that they want a setting where they feel their daughters or sons can be safe. Some of them want to live in a gated community, and some want to be surrounded by the elderly. Locking these people away in apartment blocks is not the right way, just for the sake of decongregation. We need to have a proper debate about this.

Cork city and county councils have delivered their targets of 20% for people with disabilities. However, it is important that we distinguish between people with physical disabilities and intellectual disabilities in counting those numbers.

Deputy Niamh Smyth

I again thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which is a priority for the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Browne, and the wider Government. The Government recognises that there is more to do to improve the lived experience of those with disabilities. The increase in the disability budget for 2026 further demonstrates the multiple commitments made in the programme for Government to improve the lives of people with disabilities and make a difference. The Minister, Deputy Foley, would like to reiterate the importance of ensuring that we continue to support people with disabilities to live meaningful and fulfilling lives, with a person-centred approach across all the services provided. The ambition of the Government is to bring about a step change in services for people with disabilities in Ireland. It is committed to the expansion and reform of disability services to maximise people's independence and their health supports to help them to live ordinary lives in ordinary places.

The Minister wishes to reassure the Deputy that the Government is aware of the challenges presented across all regions. The Department is actively engaging with the Department of housing and the HSE to increase service provision, to support service providers to carry out their vital work and to explore various ways of responding to demand.

I have taken note of the specific issues the Deputy has raised and I will relay them to the Minister, Deputy Foley.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 28 May 2026