Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for raising this important issue. I thank Tony for his advocacy in relation to his daughter, Aoife, and for speaking up for all the other mums and dads. This is an issue I have come across in my own constituency when I knock on a hall door and meet somebody behind it who, not to age people, is perhaps in his or her 70s or 80s. Deputy Whitmore meets these people in Wicklow too. They have been doing their best. In some cases, the family are working well, but are of course worried about what will happen to their loved one if and indeed when they pass on. It is a real issue. I am familiar with the work of the group Before We Die. I have been following some of its advocacy, particularly in recent weeks. I happened to have a conversation with the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, on this earlier this week. She will meet this group next week, I think on Wednesday, about its specific campaign. When we raise these issues, Government members generally read through statistics and talk about progress we see, and Opposition members talk about areas in which they do not believe we have seen enough progress. I want to be clear that we have not made enough progress in this area. The issue is legitimate and real. It is one reason why we have increased the budget for disability services by 20% this year, so there is an extra €618 million.
Of that, €40 million is going to provide new residential places. I think there is a commitment to at least 152 new residential places. It will require a conversation that is deeper than just the number of residential places because not all people are the same, not all people with a disability are the same and not all needs are the same. The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, is very committed to working with this group but also more broadly, under the national disability strategy, in terms of how we get this plan in place. The Deputy used the word "transition" in the context of transition plans when a person with a disability wants to move from primary school to secondary school. At the other end of the life spectrum, there is the need for that level of transition planning and much earlier conversation. At a high level, we are increasing the disability budget significantly. We now see 8,911 residential places provided for people with disabilities between the HSE and 90 service providers. We have provided significant additional funding this year for more places. That is important and welcome. Between 2020 and 2025, we created 955 new priority one residential places. Is it enough? The answer is "No". Is there complexity beyond the number of places in terms of having a person-centred approach? There is and we look forward as a Government to engaging with this group through the Minister of State next week. I will also ask that she might engage with the relevant Oireachtas committee about how we develop a way forward on this.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05