Disability Issues
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-07
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Eileen Lynch (FG), Agricultural Panel

I thank the Minister of State for such a comprehensive reply. I welcome that there is a lot of positive news as regards investment, and I am delighted to see there is progress being made. As I said, it is maybe not as fast as we would like. I commend the Minister of State; I know the volume of work she has been doing on this, particularly when she has been in this particular ministerial role for such a short period. I know she is doing a lot of work on this issue.
I am concerned about the €40 million to deliver 199 residential responses, and 152 new residential placements. This year, there were 250 residential placements but 72 of those only went to planned placements; the rest went to emergency crisis situations whereby a carer became incapacitated or passed away. When that forward planning is not there, somebody who has been on a list is going to be superseded by somebody who is in dire need because their carer is no longer with them or no longer has any form of capacity. That is something that should be highlighted.
I very much welcome the Minister of State's news regarding co-ordination with local authorities and the HSE. Does she have an update relating to the recruitment of the HSE housing co-ordinators and the residential placement planning and review teams? This is very good news, and hopefully it is something that will have a big impact on this area.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-07