I acknowledge the presence of my colleague, an Teachta Robert O'Donoghue. Along with our constituency colleague, Deputy Boland, we have been working with a number of groups in our area to try to secure long-term housing solutions for persons with disabilities. This morning, I want to focus specifically on one service. It is an organisation known as Remember Us. I will not try to tell the Minister of State what my view of Remember Us is but I will tell him in her own words what the founder, Nora Roban says. When she was asked why Remember Us, a club for children and adults with special needs, was set up, she said:

The answer is simple. My son Paul has special needs. It is absolutely vital for people with special needs to develop their social skills and self-esteem early in life, to help integrate into society. I instinctively knew that without developing this side of his life he would always feel inadequate and isolated from society. This would inevitably lead to even greater problems as he got older. After years of searching and failing to find such a place, I decided to set up Remember Us, for Paul and for other children like him.

The key here is about integration and that feeling of not being isolated. I know that there are clubs like Remember Us and services like those of Prosper Fingal across the State. They are working really hard to provide services. However, we attended a meeting just before Christmas in the building that Nora runs Remember Us out of. We met with parents there. They all had one concern. This will not be new to the Minister of State and I thank him for being here this morning to take the Topical Issue. They all had one concern. That concern is around what will happen to their loved ones, their adult children, when their parents are no longer able to care for them. We are talking about people who are in their 60s, 70s and in some cases in their 80s and older, who are absolutely terrified at the prospect of their loved ones having to go into a nursing home. I think we can all agree that a nursing home is not an appropriate place for a person. A nursing home is a place for an elderly person, not a person with disabilities, intellectual or physical disabilities.

I, like others, was somewhat shocked when I read Fergus Finlay's column when he wrote that he had seen a letter that had come from the HSE. It advised a parent that they are legally obliged to support their daughter, and that includes the provision of accommodation - accommodation that will go on after the parent has died. It is not within the gift of parents to provide that. What I am asking the Minister of State to do this morning is to perhaps outline for me what kind of joined-up thinking is happening. There is nothing more certain than these young people becoming young adults and older people. There is nothing more certain than that their parents and loved ones will not be in a position to care for them. That is why the organisation Before We Die has been set up.

Some work is going on. I know Remember Us has ambitious plans in terms of establishing a small community of appropriately sized houses but it goes back to the foundation and the reason Remember Us was founded. It is about inclusion. It is about people with disabilities being in their own community, with their friends and in an environment that they are familiar with.

It is about ensuring they have that level of support.

That response was fairly disappointing, and I am saying that with as much respect as I can muster. The Minister of State stated, “From 2020 to 2025, 955 new residential places were provided to people with disabilities, which has undoubtedly had an impact in Dublin Fingal West.” It would have been nicer if he had got the figures and told me how many places relate to that constituency, if any.

The question that was put was about community-based housing. It was not necessarily about residential care. There is a looming crisis, whether the Government acknowledges it or not, that relates to people who are ageing in the community. It is brilliant that people are living longer, thanks to the work of the Minister of State’s wife, her colleagues, the families and all the rest. People are living longer and that is a good thing, but they will outlive their parents. That is also a good thing, but their parents are concerned about what will happen to them.

The Minister of State said dedicated housing co-ordinators have been appointed. In his response, he might explain exactly where they are based. A name and phone number would be brilliant, and while I would not ask him to put that on the record, he can tell me who the person is for my area of Dublin - or rather our area because an Teachta O’Donoghue is here too - Dublin Fingal West. Who is that person and how can they assist with the provision of long-term housing? Residential is extremely important, and if the Minister of State had the exact figure with him, I would be able to match that against the number of people on the waiting lists, but that is only one aspect of what is needed. Community-based housing means people can age and live in their community and be with their friends, which is so important to the families of Remember Us. They told us very clearly that that is where there needs to be some focus.

I will gladly ask the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, who cannot be here, to send that exact information to all the Deputies and representatives in Fingal. That is a reasonable request but I just do not have it to hand.

No, that is fair.

Once again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which is a priority for the Government. The Government recognises that there is more to do to improve the lived experience of those with a disability. The increase in the disability budget for 2026 further demonstrates the multiple commitments made in the programme for Government commitment to improving the lives of people with disabilities and making a difference.

The ambition of this Government is to bring about a step change in services for people with a disability in Ireland and we are committed to the expansion and reform of disability services in order to maximise people’s independence and support them to live ordinary lives in ordinary places like everybody else does. This is reflected in the very significant investment being made in specialist services recently. In 2026, we are supporting another 199 residential supports for people with disabilities.

While the strategy, policy direction and overall allocation are a matter for the Minister, funding allocations to regions and individual service providers at a local level is an operational matter for the HSE. The Department, in conjunction with the HSE, will always strive to ensure disability services are delivered in an equitable manner across all regional health areas as effectively as possible to ensure maximum benefit for those who require services.

I assure the Deputy that this Government is aware of the challenges present across all regional health areas and that the Department is working alongside the HSE to address these challenges and increase the provision of services, including residential services of the various types that have been mentioned in this debate.