I am grateful for the opportunity to speak this evening. When this Government took office last January, we promised a step change in the delivery of supports and services for people with disabilities and their families. Budget 2026 is the first step in delivering on this ambition. Some €3.83 billion will be provided to specialist disability services in 2026. That is an unprecedented increase of €618 million, or almost 20%. This funding will be directed at services delivered by the HSE section 38 and section 39 orga…

I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government and I recognise the need for all children to receive the right services at the right time. We are committed to improving services for all children with disabilities. We have and will continue to do so. As the Deputy will know, there are currently 93 children's disability network teams, CDNTs, across the country and these teams provide services and supports for children from birth to 18 years of age. Children with neurological conditions receive supports through th…

As I was saying, we will be increasing our focus on children's neurorehabilitation. The HSE is progressing plans to examine the demand for those rehabilitation services for children in Ireland with acquired disability and to examine the current capacity of rehabilitation services, as well as designing a service delivery model for children with acquired disability in line with national strategies for children with disabilities. Consideration of the children’s disability services and the funding requirements for budg…

I thank the Deputy for his contribution. It is important. He is correct that we should address those gaps. As I travelled the country I have met those who look after people who acquire a brain injury - mostly adults - but issues around that gap between the ages of 16 and 18 are issues that have been raised with me. I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue here and it is something we will have to look at to make sure we are rolling out these hubs as is happening for adults across the country but also looking at gap…

The Government and I recognise the importance of early intervention for children with disabilities and of ensuring they receive the right service at the right time. Under the programme for Government we are committed to ensuring that children and their families who need early intervention and therapy input can access that support in a timely way. The key vehicle for change and improvement is the roadmap for service improvement for disability services for children and young people. The implementation of this roadmap…

That is the breakdown I received but I will go back and see if there is a further breakdown. The Deputy's question was specific but those were the figures I got back. I will come back to the Deputy if there is a further breakdown. My Department and I know that more needs to be done in this area. My Department is working with the HSE to introduce specific recruitment and retention measures and incentives for therapists to work in our CDNTs, including the CDNT sponsorship initiative and facilitating direct access for…

I will come back and follow up in writing on that. The Deputy makes a good point as well. I always stress when travelling around the country and visiting services that there is a lot of fantastic work happening within the disability sector. Sometimes those working within the sector talk to me about the narrative out there. We all understand the challenges that have to be dealt with and there are families out there who are waiting too long on these waiting lists for their children to access these services. As part o…

The Government and I recognise the importance of early intervention, and the programme for Government, as the Deputy knows, commits to ensuring children and their families get that early intervention and therapy input, and that they can access that support in a timely way. A key response to this issue is the recruitment and retention of health and social care professionals, and I alluded to that in my last response. Substantial effort and investment has been made in this regard. Our CDNTs support almost 45,000 chil…

I do not have the figures for that but I can tell the Deputy that the focus of Government, and my focus and that of the Minister, Deputy Foley, is to make sure we are increasing the number of speech and language therapists and occupational therapists so that they are actually going out there providing the therapies. As the Deputy knows with regard to the backlog of assessment of need, a lot of them are carrying out the assessments. What many people want and what parents send their children to get these assessments …

I thank the Deputy, and I will come back to him if I have those figures available to me. He raised an important point around early intervention. I refer to the earliest milestones, and a child not reaching them. What is happening now is a lot of these pressures are coming into the education system. Where a need is identified we need to be flagging it much earlier and providing the services much earlier. That is where that single point of access to the HSE will be so important as well as us dealing with the assessme…

I thank all Members for their contributions to this discussion. As Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, I have witnessed at first hand the passion and commitment that disabled people bring to advocating for a more inclusive Ireland, and for continually highlighting the need to provide more and better services. The Government and I are very conscious of the struggles endured by disabled people and their families and loved ones. We are firmly of the belief that disabled people should be able to acc…

I thank everyone who contributed to this important discussion. It seems astonishing that it was not until 1993 and the passing of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 that homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland. Prior to that, people across the country risked prison for simply being themselves. Attitudes towards individuals and couples who did not fit conventional stereotypes were hostile and indeed the first Pride parade only took place in 1983. It was not the affirming and positive event that we know …

I thank Senator Rabbitte for raising this issue and offering me the opportunity to respond. The Government is fully committed to supporting efforts to ensure the necessary supports for people with disabilities, along with their families, and to ensuring they are provided in a timely manner, not just in our home county of Galway but right across the country. As the Senator is aware, the Toghermore site in Tuam, which is owned and operated by the HSE, is currently under review by the HSE under a direction issued in M…

I thank the Senator again for raising this issue. I am keen to ensure all opportunities are explored in regard to the Toghermore campus and that the services are provided for the benefit of the locals and the surrounding communities. I reiterate this Government's commitment to delivering real and tangible solutions to enhance services and to better support the needs of adults and children with additional needs in Ireland as outlined in the commitments contained in our programme for Government. We have made signific…

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for his question. This Government is committed to enhancing the delivery of supports and services for all children in Ireland with additional needs, including autistic children. It is important to emphasise that an autism assessment or an assessment of need is not required for a child to access primary care, CDNTs or CAMHS. The Government accepts that waiting lists for assessments of need are too long. We are working to ensure that all children's disability network teams are fully staffed wi…

A number of things are happening here. There is an increased demand for assessments of need. We are all very aware of the reasons for that. For many, it is about getting access to services as well as wanting to know about a disability and getting a diagnosis. All these form part of the demands on the system. The Deputy will know we are doing work through a Cabinet committee on disability. We have been meeting very frequently to examine the assessment of need process. We are rolling out regional assessment hubs acro…

To answer the last question first, ensuring that children have access to the therapies they need is absolutely my priority and our priority as a Government. It is for that reason that my colleague the Minister, Deputy McEntee is continuing the work that myself and the Minister, Deputy Foley did when we were in the Department of Education on special education with in-school speech and language therapists and occupational therapists going in to our special schools. That will also alleviate the demand for these therap…

As I have said, the Government absolutely recognises that waiting times for assessment of need are far too long and we are committed to reforming the assessment of need process. Both this Department and the HSE have been working intensively to progress measures to address these waiting times. I want to emphasise again to parents that while children have a right to apply for the assessment of need, they do not need one to access health services, including those provided by primary care, CDNTs or mental health servic…

I do not have a breakdown of the numbers of children who have gone through the process but there has been a 65% increase in assessments in the first three months compared with the same period last year. Even with that said, we know we have a lot more work to do to get through that. I might not have said it earlier, but we absolutely acknowledge people’s statutory right to have access to an assessment of need process. What we want to do here is make sure we have the pipeline of therapists coming through. We are rely…

Regional assessment hubs are being rolled out. We had a meeting with the CEO of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, on that. I can get updated information for the Deputy on that. My understanding is that they are starting to be rolled out. That will help to reduce waiting lists. We have also worked with the HSE to seek to introduce specific recruitment and retention initiatives for therapists to work in CDNTs, along with a CDNT sponsorship programme with bursaries for fourth year and postgraduate students, linked to the acce…