Written Answers Nos. 683-702
683. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children as of 1 June 2025 or latest date available, that were awaiting a first assessment from the HSE under the Disability Act 2005, for each local health office area, in tabular form. [31990/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
684. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people on the speech and language therapy assessment waiting list, and within that, the numbers waiting less than four months; the number waiting 4-12 months; the number waiting more than 12 months; and for each category, the numbers waiting aged 0-17 years and those aged 18 and above, for each local health area, as of 1 June 2025 or latest date available, in tabular form. [31991/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
685. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people on the speech and language therapy initial treatment waiting list, and within that, the numbers waiting less than 4 months; the number waiting 4-12 months; the number waiting more than 12 months; and for each category, the numbers waiting aged 0-17 years and those aged 18 and above, for each local health area, as of 1 June 2025 or latest date available, in tabular form. [31992/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
686. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people on the speech and language therapy further treatment waiting list, and within that, the numbers waiting less than 4 months; the number waiting 4-12 months; the number waiting more than 12 months; and for each category, the numbers waiting aged 0-17 years and those aged 18 and above, for each local health area, as of 1 June 2025 or latest date available, in tabular form. [31993/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
687. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of people on the occupational therapy first-time assessment waiting list, and within that, the numbers waiting less than 4 months; the number waiting 4-12 months; the number waiting more than 12 months; and for each category, the numbers waiting aged 0-4 years, 5-17 years, 18-64 years and aged 65 plus, for each local health area, as of 1 June 2025 or latest date available, in tabular form. [31994/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
688. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will outline the action she is taking to provide full-time early learning and care services for children under six years of age in Carlow and Kilkenny; if she is aware that the Kilkenny childcare committee have confirmed that currently there are no available childcare places for families seeking full day care; if she will consider funding community childcare centres in a central location in Kilkenny city when buildings used currently for educational purposes are vacated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32008/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraImproving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government.
Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 3 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by over 15%. The Tusla register of services demonstrates a net increase in the numbers of registered early learning and childcare services in 2024. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply, particularly for younger children and in certain parts of the country.
My Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of Core Funding which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. Core Funding, which is in its third programme year, funds services based on the number of places available.
This provides stability to services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service. For the current programme year, the allocation for Core Funding allows for a 6% increase in capacity. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a further 3.5% increase from September 2025, in the fourth programme year.
The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is designed to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre–Early Childhood Care and Education, age range for full day care. Core Funding partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises.
49 applications will be progressing to the next stage of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme. These 49 applications come from a mix of Community Extension (24), Private Extension (7), Community Purchasing (4) and Community Construction (14) projects, which, when completed, will deliver almost 1,500 additional full time childcare places for 1-3 year olds. Two services in County Kilkenny were approved for funding under the scheme. I look forward to seeing how these projects progress over the coming months.
A forward planning model is in development which will be central to my Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.
The Programme for Government commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or purchase state-owned early learning and childcare facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. State ownership of facilities is a a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand.
Some early scoping work has been carried out to explore options to introduce a segment of public provision. More detailed and extensive policy development and design is ongoing in order progress to implementation stage, having regard to the wider emerging policy context as set out in the Programme for Government.
The approach to capital investment in future years is being considered within the context of the Programme for Government commitments and the revision to the National Development Plan which is ongoing. There has been a range of engagements at official and political level to inform the update National Development Plan between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. My officials and I are continuing to engage with colleagues across Government on the review.
689. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children that avail of NCS universal fee supports; the number of children that avail of targeted NCS supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32044/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial supports to parents to help reduce the cost of early learning and childcare. The Scheme has undergone a number of enhancements in recent years to further improve affordability for parents. These include the extension of the Universal subsidy to all children under 15 and two increases to the minimum hourly subsidy, which is now worth €2.14 per hour.
These enhancements have helped to result in a positive growth in the number of families benefitting from NCS subsidies. Year-to-date a total of 192,230 children have availed of NCS subsidies - a 16% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Of these children, the largest growth is seen in the number of children benefitting from a Universal award, which is up 27% on the previous year, 2024.
A breakdown of the number of unique children currently availing of subsidies, including Sponsorship, is as follows:
|
Subsidy Type |
2025 (to 09 June) |
|
Income Assessed |
64,067 |
|
Universal |
124,622 |
|
Sponsored |
7,184 |
|
*Total |
192,230 |
*Please note that there may be a difference between the sum of all subsidy types and the 'total'. This is because the total number of children includes those who may have claims under different subsidy types in a given year i.e. a family may have availed of a Universal award before switching to an Income Assessed. However, for the purposes of the 'total', these children have only been counted once.
690. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality in relation to recent announcements of fee capping in EY & SAC, to what percent do the Department estimate parent fees will reduce to, compared to the approximate 40% of all EY & SAC fees currently paid by parents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32045/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information required to give an accurate figure on the overall reduction of income from fees is not currently available to my Department. However, I am confident that the introduction of maximum fee caps will not impact on services sustainability and will benefit families who are facing the highest fees across the country.
Around 10 per cent of Partner Services will be potentially impacted. At the same time, State funding for early learning and childcare providers through Core Funding is being increased to record levels.
Prior to Core Funding being introduced the Independent Review of the Cost of Providing Quality Childcare Services in Ireland, was published in 2020.
This review found that, on average, 60% of the income to the sector was from public funding although this varied substantially across the sector, meaning 40% of income came from private sources – primarily parental fees.
Data on provider income and cost was also collected in 2021 and 2022 by Pobal to enable similar analysis. Analysis of data collected in 2021 shows broad consistency with 2018 data.
Partner Services are required to submit validated financial returns to my Department. Early insights from submissions from the last programme year suggest that roughly 30% of income reported between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2024 originated from parental fees.
Investment in Early Learning and Childcare in 2023 was €1.025 billion, exceeding the First 5 target investment five years ahead of schedule. In 2024, investment in this sector increased to €1.1 billion. The universal subsidy under NCS was €1.40 per hour for the duration of this reporting period, increasing to €2.14 from September 2024.
The introduction of maximum fee caps for all Partner Services is an important step towards the Government’s commitment to progressively reduce the cost of early learning and childcare to €200 per month per child.
691. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality metric used to reduce the maximum amount of Core Funding from 600,000 in year two, 500,000 in year three and 450,000 in year four in September 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32046/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs with all State expenditure, there is a limited amount of funding available in a given year and adequate budgetary controls are required to ensure that expenditure does not exceed the funding allocated for a specific purpose.
The maximum Base Rate allocation is an enhanced budgetary control for Core Funding that is being introduced incrementally to manage and monitor the impact on individual services in a sustainable manner. It creates an upper limit for expenditure through the scheme.
This maximum Base Rate allocation was introduced in September 2023 for the second year of Core Funding. It maximises the efficiency of significant State investment in the sector, to best spread a limited budget across the entire sector rather than increasing funded capacity for the largest services.
This maximum does not apply to the Graduate Premiums and the new Staff Funding Additional Contribution, which will increase a Partner Service’s total allocation beyond this maximum base rate allocation.
When introduced, this maximum allocation was set at an annual value of €600,000. This was deliberately above what any service was in line to receive under the new increased Base Rates which took effect in September 2023. This was the first step in the incremental introduction of enhanced budgetary controls for Core Funding. 2023/2024 was a transitional year where the concept of an upper control was introduced to the sector in a considered and controlled manner, without impacting any individual service.
For Year 3 (2024/2025), the maximum Base Rate was reduced to €500,000. Again, this was done in a careful manner. My Officials identified the services who would be impacted by this measure and assessed the impact of the reduced maximum allocation on their funding. Five services are in receipt of this maximum allocation of €500,000 with graduate premiums bringing their grant higher. These are services who will be in receipt of some of the highest levels of funding from my Department nationwide.
From September 2025, the fourth year of Core Funding, I will be reducing the maximum allocation to €450,000. Based on current operating models, just nine Partner Services will be reaching this upper limit. I have carefully considered the impact of this upper limit of funding on these services.
Achieving value for money from this significant State investment is vital. The reduction in the maximum allocation from September will continue the incremental and measured introduction of enhanced budgetary controls for this grant whilst also allowing funding to increase for the smallest services around the country who would be more vulnerable to rising costs and fluctuating incomes.
I am confident that this measure will not make any service unsustainable. However, any service facing sustainability concerns can continue to avail of supports through my Department’s established case management process, through which local City and County Childcare Committees and Pobal work together to assess and provide support including financial support to services experiencing difficulties.
692. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the waiting list for HSE home support in each month of 2025, broken down by regional health area and local health area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32117/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
693. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of applications for HSE home support (disability) in CHO 4 in 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32118/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra694. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of refusals for HSE home support (disability) in CHO 4 in 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32119/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra695. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average number of hours granted to HSE home support (disability) clients in CHO4, broken down by LHO, in 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32120/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 693, 694 and 695 together.
As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
696. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total number of active service arrangements and grant aid agreements in place for disability services with third-party organisations;to provide a full list of those organisations; and the total value of payments made under these arrangements in each of the past ten years, in tabular form. [32152/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
697. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide a breakdown of total payments for disability services in each of the past five years to organisations by categories (details supplied). [32153/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.
698. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide data on the total funding allocated and spent on disability services per CHO area in each of the past five years; and to provide a breakdown of that spending per service provider within each CHO. [32154/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.
699. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide a breakdown of total expenditure on disability services in each of the past five years (details supplied), in tabular form. [32155/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 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.
|
Service Areas€m |
% of allocation |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Residential Services |
58% |
1,178 |
1,284 |
1,363 |
1,507 |
1,665 |
1,856 |
|
Day Services |
25% |
500 |
545 |
578 |
640 |
706 |
788 |
|
Respite Services |
4% |
85 |
93 |
99 |
109 |
120 |
134 |
|
Personal Assistance and home Support Services |
5% |
93 |
101 |
107 |
119 |
131 |
146 |
|
Multi-disciplinary Supports & Services |
6% |
124 |
135 |
143 |
158 |
175 |
195 |
|
Community Supports & Services |
2% |
49 |
54 |
57 |
63 |
70 |
78 |
|
Total |
100% |
2,029 |
2,211 |
2,347 |
2,596 |
2,868 |
3,197 |
While assistive technologies in general cannot be separated from core funding, €2.5m was specifically allocated to fund domestic Digital Assistive Technologies for 2024-2029. The Department also funds the Cooperative Real Engagement for Assistive Technology Enhancement (CREATE) initiative which saw funding in Budget 2022 (€2m) and Budget 2024 (€750,000). Budget 2025 saw €1.1m allocated for CREATE III which will commence in the coming months.
Disability capital expenditure and annual allocations / budget for the same period is detailed below.
|
Year of Expenditure |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Disability Capital Expenditure |
9.6mm |
7.3m |
5.2m |
15.3m |
23m |
|
|
Disability Capital Allocation |
16m |
20m |
12.6m |
21.3m |
23m |
27m |
Please note that specialist disability services transferred from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality in 2023.
700. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the names of the five highest-funded for-profit organisations that have received payments under service arrangements for the provision of disability services in each of the past five years (2020 to 2024); and the amount paid to each organisation annually, the CHO area under which each operates, and any changes to their funding levels or scope of services provided during that time. [32156/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.
701. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the projected service demand and planned capacity increases in the provision of disability services for the period 2025 to 2029 (details supplied); and if he will provide any published forecasts, modelling data, or strategic planning documentation that underpin these projections, including relevant content from the Action Plan for Disability Services or other national strategies. [32157/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn July 2021, the Government published the Disability Capacity Review – A Review of Social Care Requirements and Capacity Demand to 2032. This review set out the extra capacity requirements for community disability services up to 2032, based on an analysis of demographic trends and unmet need.
In order to implement the recommendations of the Capacity Review, a detailed Action Plan was developed. The Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026, published in December 2023 represents a national strategy for capacity increases and service and policy reform in disability services. It was informed by findings from the Disability Capacity Review, cross-governmental input, and an extensive public consultation.
It should be noted that the cost estimates in the Disability Capacity Review were based on unit cost and demand levels at the time at which the Review was written. However, the cost of delivering services has risen since 2018 due a variety of reasons. Therefore, a significant increase in current and capital expenditure, in excess of the estimates set out in the Capacity Review, will be required in order to address the scale of the challenge to manage an increased cost base and legacy deficits, as well as an increased demand for services.
It should be further noted that the Capacity Review noted significant data gaps in its analysis, meaning the true level of unmet could be higher than its calculations allow.
Therefore, an update of the Capacity Review is being prepared, in line with action A20.11 of the Action Plan and taking account of the results of Census 2022 results, as well as updated information from National Ability Support System (NASS). Update on the progress of this work will be published in the biannual monitoring reports which detail the progress of the Action Plan. These reports are available at the link below: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-children-disability-and-equality/publications/action-plan-for-disability-services-2024-2026-publications/.
702. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the up-to-date position regarding the establishment of a community neuro-rehabilitation team in the CHO9 area. [32162/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly.
