Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
29. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the details of privately outsourced disability day services her Department has contracted for the years 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025; and the number of such services and the associated costs. [72528/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraDay Services are part of a suite of support services that enable people with specialist disability service needs to live within the community. The New Directions Policy, which was published in 2013, outlines the manner in which adults with disabilities receive disability day services. This policy is underpinned by the values of person centredness, community inclusion, active citizenship and quality. Each person should have access to flexible and outcome-driven supports to enable them to live a life of their choosing that meets their own wishes, aspirations and needs.
In 2025, it is expected that there will be Day Services provided for 20,600 individuals with a disability – up from just over 19,500 in 2024 - together with a further over 2,000 in Rehabilitative Training services. These services are provided at almost 1,300 locations around the country by 97 service provider agencies. Adult day services and RT programmes are delivered by a combination of the HSE, Section 38 and, Section 39 organisations, as well as private providers.
Funding is allocated each year to provide HSE adult disability day service supports to over 1,700 people leaving school and Rehabilitative Training annually. Placements are identified by the local HSE Day Opportunities teams in line with the person’s support needs and within the funding available. Each person should have a Person Centred Plan (PCP) and be supported to achieve that plan with the aim to support people in “living ordinary lives in ordinary places”.
Where a person presents with complex support needs, or where there may not be sufficient capacity or suitable supports within existing HSE-funded services in the local area, it may be necessary to contract a private provider to ensure that their needs are met.
From 2021 to 2024 not-for-profit organisations were funded to provide Day Services to around 6,000 new school leavers. In the same period, private providers were contracted to provide new day service placements to 198 new school leavers with an establishment cost of €6.9 million.
In 2021, 9 private providers were contracted to support 29 new school leavers at a cost of €1.2m.
In 2022, 8 private providers were contracted to support 46 new school leavers at a cost of €1.5m.
In 2023, 7 private providers were contracted to support 33 new school leavers at a cost of €1.2m.
In 2024, 15 private providers were contracted to support 90 new school leavers at a cost of €3m.
The figures for 2025 are not yet available as the commencement process for the 2025 school leaver cohort is ongoing.
This Government’s ambition is to bring about a step-change in services for people with a disability in Ireland and it is committed to the expansion and reform of disability services in order to maximise people’s independence and help support them to live their lives on the same basis as every other citizen.
This is reflected in the very significant investment being made in specialist disability services in recent years with record investment of €3.2bn in 2025 alone.
