Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 April 2026
186. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taken to meet the need for long-term residential care for disabled people in the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28752/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Children, Disability and Equality, alongside the HSE, is continuing to work to increase provision in order to assist those who are most vulnerable in our society, and who urgently require services.
The Programme for Government commits to developing a multi-year capital plan for investment in residential and independent living options for both adults and children, and to tackle waiting lists for specialist disability services by implementation of the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-6, and resourcing and delivering on its targets.
The Programme for Government also 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, the Department for Children, Disability and Equality published the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was developed with input from disabled people and representative organisations on the issues that matter the most to them.
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.
This Government together with the HSE, acknowledges that demand for residential services is very high. The provision of residential services has come under increasing pressure in the past few years due to a number of impacting factors such as an increase in the number of individuals seeking access to residential services as a reflection of general population increase, changing support needs of service users, recruitment challenges impacting all areas of disability services and the availability of suitable housing. In this regard, the HSE continues to work with agencies to explore various ways of responding to this need in line with the budget available.
As of February 2026, approximately 90 service providers are delivering 8,927 specialist disability places. Since 2020, additional funding provided to the HSE has supported the creation of an additional 982 residential places for people with disabilities.
These placements largely support people moving from their family home to a residential service and are in addition to supporting transitions of people from congregated settings to the community and people under the age of 65 out of nursing homes and into more appropriate community-based homes.
Budget 2026 has provided approximately €3.9 billion in funding for Specialist Disability Services. Specialist disability residential services make up the largest part of the Disability funding disbursed by the HSE, almost 60% (€2.2bn) of the total budget.
€65m has been allocated to Disability Residential Services in 2026 for new developments, which includes €40m of funding that will provide in the region of 199 residential responses. This includes 152 newly created residential placements (72 planned placements and 80 unplanned urgent placements), as outlined in the HSE’s National Service Plan for 2026. Funding will also support new residents in existing placements that have become vacant and require enhancement and in limited circumstances, placements in nursing home settings.
The HSE’s 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.
Residential placements generally respond to residential needs demonstrated on the HSE’s Disability Support Application Management Tool (DSMAT), which provides a list and detailed profiles of people (Adults & Children) who need additional funded supports in each Health Region. Entries to the DSMAT are entered locally by the HSE and represent an indicator of need for people who come forward actively seeking services. These planned places will be able to respond to residential needs demonstrated on the HSE’s DSMAT profiling tool.
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.
