2026-03-03

1. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [10447/26]

2. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [11871/26]

3. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [71662/25]

4. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [71664/25]

5. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [71666/25]

6. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [4034/26]

7. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [12354/26]

8. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [13983/26]

9. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [14261/26]

10. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14281/26]

11. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14303/26]

12. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14305/26]

13. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [14447/26]

14. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [14450/26]

15. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14762/26]

16. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [15023/26]

17. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [16741/26]

18. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [16762/26]

19. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [16763/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 19, inclusive, together. The delivery and monitoring committee, which I chair, oversees implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. This strategy, published last September, is the Government's plan to advance the realisation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities so that disabled people are supported and empowered to live full lives of their own choosing. The delivery and monitoring committee is part of robust monitoring structures that have been established for the strategy. These structures have been co-designed with stakeholders to ensure oversight and accountability, and will involve disabled people centrally so that their voices can be heard. The first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee took place on 8 December 2025. It was attended by the Government Ministers responsible for delivering the strategy, including the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, alongside representatives of disabled persons' organisations and disability and civil society organisations. To mark the inaugural meeting, a number of additional Ministers attended, including the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Minister of State with responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports, the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion and the Minister of State with responsibility for small business and retail, and the circular economy. The meeting of the committee considered a first programme plan of action for the national human rights strategy for disabled people, which covers the years 2025 and 2026. The plan details initial measures that will ensure disabled people experience real progress in their everyday lives. Examples include the roll-out of the new education and therapy service, increased provision of respite and residential services, steps to address primary care waiting lists and the development of a new vehicle adaptation scheme. Respite services play a critical role in supporting people with disabilities and their families, and the value that these services provide cannot be understated. We made a commitment in the programme for Government to continue the expansion of respite services and budget 2026 reflects this ambition. It provides €25 million in additional funding for respite expansion, providing over 10,000 extra overnight and 15,000 day respite sessions. This funding is being used to increase the level of respite provision for children and adults around the country through a mix of alternative respite options. These include in-home respite, after-school and day respite, using existing overnight residential capacity to the maximum extent and providing additional overnight respite capacity where it is needed. The funding will also support the further development of home-sharing, a person-centred and community-based form of respite where a person is supported in the family home as a viable respite option. Following consideration by the committee, the plan of action was subsequently published. The committee will meet twice a year and future meetings are expected to have a thematic focus on specific issues that will be identified with stakeholders in advance. The next meeting of the committee has not yet been scheduled. The Government is committed to delivering real and tangible solutions to enhance services to better support disabled people in Ireland. The overall HSE disability budget for 2026 has grown to more than €3.8 billion, a 20% increase on the previous year, delivering increased investment in residential, respite and therapy services. This includes additional investment in the 93 children's disability services which provide services and support for over 45,000 children, an increase of approximately 2,000 children since 2024. While we recognise there is much more to do, CDNT waiting lists have fallen from nearly 13,000 in January 2025 to just under 9,400 at the end of December 2025. To support this growing investment, the HSE is driving intensive recruitment efforts and a dedicated disability workforce strategy will be developed in 2026. The Government is also firmly committed to supporting disabled people and improving their lives, including through addressing the cost of disability. The Government recognises the significant additional costs that disabled people can face in their daily lives and we are committed to improving outcomes for disabled people by introducing permanent measures. The programme for Government includes a commitment to introducing a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment, with a view to incrementally increasing this payment. Work on this has begun, led by the Minister for Social Protection, and will include engagement with disabled people with a view to developing proposals for Government. A public consultation is currently open.

Deputies Quinlivan and Quaide and I visited the Side-By-Side clubhouse in Dún Laoghaire run by Acquired Brain Injury Ireland. Deputy John Brady and I met the group previously. It has two specific asks. Some 450 children in the State suffer moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately, outside of a small number of specialist rehabilitation centres there are no dedicated rehabilitation services for children with an acquired brain injury. Its proposal is for two community-based specialist interdisciplinary teams for children living with acquired brain injuries which would provide much-needed rehabilitation services to children in their communities, including in their own homes. The other issue relates to €2 million for a brain injury case manager. We saw a lady who had no action in regard to rehabilitation until a case manager was in place but that does not exist everywhere. We need that roadmap for everybody.

With the full permission of his parents, I want to raise the case of 15-year-old Oliver, a young person with severe autism and PANDAS. The State is currently spending approximately €700,000 on a residential placement that independent clinicians have warned is unsafe and unsuitable for him. His parents have documented repeated safeguarding concerns and HIQA has raised serious issues with the oversight of his care. Despite the ongoing engagement by his parents and my office, no clear pathway can be found. His parents are not seeking additional funding. Rather, they are willing to build a purpose designed extension at their home and are simply asking that the existing funding follows their child so he can receive his clinically assessed two-to-one care package safely at home at roughly half the current cost. I would appreciate the support of the Taoiseach in ensuring this case is reviewed urgently at the highest level, so that Oliver's best interests come first.

I too want to raise an issue around residential care, following on from Deputy Daly. The Taoiseach and I share a county and city. To be fair, his office was very helpful in the case I worked on with it over the past two weeks where a person required urgent residential intervention. The problem in a Cork context was that this young adult was diagnosed with a mild disability. To call a spade a spade, there are no residential opportunities for anybody with that categorisation in Cork, irrespective of their condition. That is happening in Cork at the moment. The county is essentially only dealing with emergency cases and cases are being managed on a week to week basis. At best, that is what people are trying to do. There is very little forward planning. I have met all of the service providers over the past few weeks. I am genuinely very concerned about the outlook for full-time residential care. I assume this is replicated in other parts of the country. We need to fund service providers adequately to provide accommodation. I thank the Taoiseach for meeting the Before We Die campaign, which is at the helm in terms of progressing the issue, and I hope he has more interaction with it in the next few weeks.

On world hearing day, I again want to raise the case of James Reardon and Ruth McSkane, who face a bill of €10,000 for hearing aids. I have previously raised with the Minister for Health the case of a lady in my area, Maggie Owens, who is involved with Irish Sign Language and creates great bond with the language in the town of Athy. At a time when some 50% of our population with a disability of working age is not in employment, expenses such as cost of hearing aids are prohibitive. In 2024 the Department of Health set up a working group to develop a national hearing care plan. Can the Taoiseach confirm the status of the report? Can the Government consider the costs which prohibit those from with disabilities from entering employment?

More than 3,000 people signed a petition calling for two new autism classes in Stapolin Educate Together National School. The Department of Education and Youth said it will sanction these classes in terms of staffing but will not provide any classrooms. There are no spare classrooms in the school. The school needs to be able to provide new classes and modular classrooms if the new autism classes are to open. Will two new additional classrooms be sanctioned? Will he speak to the Minister for Education and Youth about this? Cad é a dhearcadh?

In this Chamber, we tend to speak almost exclusively about the right of disabled people to access services, yet many other rights make for a full life, not least the right to employment. Ireland continues to have one of the lowest disability employment rates in Europe. The wage subsidy scheme is designed to close the gap, yet what we have heard from Rehab Group, the largest employer of disabled people in the State, is deeply concerning. It has warned the real value of the subsidy has eroded because it has not kept pace with increases in the national minimum wage. It has also raised concerns about the revised band structure. In practical terms, the marginal incentive weakens at higher staffing levels. That risks undermining the very objective of the scheme. If we are serious about participation, dignity and economic independence for disabled people, the wage subsidy scheme must strengthen, not dilute, the incentive for employers who are leading on inclusion. Will the Government revisit the structure and rates of the scheme to ensure a genuinely supports the expansion of disability employment?

How many children have been notified to the NCSE as needing a special class or school place for September 2026? We now know 351 special classes have been sanctioned. What is the shortfall? It has been reported as being in the region of 1,000 children and 250 extra classes. Can the Taoiseach give a commitment that the necessary places, special education teachers, SNAs and school buildings will be in place for September?

Parents, SNAs and school communities protested over the misguided move by the Government to take a significant number of SNAs from many schools across the country, a decision it had to backtrack on because of the outrage. They want to know they will not be in the same position in a year's time when the same issues happen again. Will the infamous 2014 circular, which they believe should be torn up, be rewritten with the input of the parents, SNAs and school communities so that the same dire mistake is not made again? The Government has committed to withdrawing the circular and rewriting it. Will it get input from the people who matter and know how the circular should be written in a way that guarantees the right of children with special needs and school communities? Will the Government make sure it does not make another mistake in having something written top-down by people who do not understand the issue?

On Saturday, I attended a powerful protest organised by the Affordable Ireland campaign. It was led by disabled people and disabled people's organisations. The focus of the protest was the cost-of-living crisis in general but in particular a demand for an emergency payment for those who have seen €1,400 in cuts savagely implemented in the past budget. A striking feature of the speeches was people responding to the ridiculing that happened in here about the notion that people are making real choices to heat or to eat. People spoke about their lived experience and this being the choice they face. The Government is talking about a national human rights strategy for disabled people, while pushing people further into poverty with its political choices. When I raised this with the Taoiseach last week during Leaders' Questions, he pointed to an ESRI study that said the lowest income groups benefited most from the recent budget. I actually went and checked the report, which says the opposite. It says that the lower income households were hit harder. Will the Taoiseach listen to those on the street and implement a winter payment?

Táim tar éis é seo a rá sa Teach seo cúpla uair anois. Nuair a thosaíonn daoine le míchumas ag obair, tá seans go gcaillfear an pas saor in aisce don taisteal. Níl sé sin féaráilte ar chor ar bith. Níl sé cothrom. Má táimid ag iarraidh go mbeidh an méid is mó daoine le míchumas gur féidir leo a bheith san fhórsa oibre páirteach ann, bheadh sé i bhfad níos fearr mura raibh siad chun an pas sin a chailliúint. Le bheith ionraic, má táimid ag iarraidh é sin a chinntiú – bhí mé ag caint leis an Aire, an Teachta Calleary, agus dúirt sé go raibh seans ann – caithfimid an brú is mó gur féidir linn a chur ar an Roinn chun é sin a cheadú. Níl sé cothrom go dtarlaíonn sé sin nuair a théann daoine ar ais go dtí an obair. Níl sé féaráilte.

Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra is a centre of excellence for deaf education and is in fact the only campus in Ireland catering for deaf pupils from the ages of three to 18 years. This is education for deaf children and young people in the deaf community. It is a special school, providing a very specialised service. It is a wonderful school and they need in-house Irish sign language, ISL, interpreters on staff. I met them yesterday and they recounted to me how they have to hire in interpretation services for the most mundane, the most complex and sometimes the most sensitive of tasks. They also explained how bringing in interpreters piecemeal like that does not work for children, especially small ones, because there has to be a relationship of trust and understanding and so on. They need two of these interpreters in-house. They cannot get clarity from the Department. Will the Taoiseach intervene for goodness' sake? This school needs this service, as I imagine another deaf school in Limerick does.

Across this House we are incredibly impatient and adamant that this committee at the Department of the Taoiseach must deliver for disabled people. Right across the country, every single day, many of us speak to people with disabilities, and families who have children with disabilities who are caught up in not getting access to education, housing adaptations, timely assessments or transport in their communities. There is a cost-of-living crisis as well. There is an incredible number of issues. This committee has to be more than procedural. It has to have real results.

I thank all the Deputies who contributed on this matter. First, Deputy Ó Murchú outlined how he has met representatives from Acquired Brain Injury Ireland on the need for injury case managers-----

Yes.

-----and two community-based specialists for the centre. I am familiar with the organisation. I will speak to the Minister and the Minister of State to see what the background to this is. I think it has been a very effective organisation and an advocate for people with acquired brain injuries. I am supportive of this but obviously I will have to talk to the Minister and the Minister of State and see where they are in terms of the specific request. I appreciate the Deputy raising the matter. Deputy Daly raised the case of 15-year-old Oliver. I will take this offline. The Deputy's suggestion sounds eminently sensible to me. The closer to home the child is, the better the sustainable prospects for the child and the family. I will talk to the HSE about this and see what we can do to get to the right solution. I appreciate Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's comments about various interventions. I have met the Before We Die group. I am very conscious of the need to join together the disability Department, the HSE and the Department of housing in respect of sustainable long-term residential accommodation for disabled adults. There is a spectrum in terms of dependency and the needs for various levels of support for people to go into a housing situation. It cannot be a case where providers of services tell people to go to the local authority and apply for what will be general support services in time. That is not a sustainable model, in my view. I had a good discussion with parents in this situation. I have put it on the agenda for the next meeting of the Cabinet subcommittee on disability. I have asked the Minister and the Minister of State to come forward with clear proposals on how we can create a more sustainable framework for housing for people with disabilities in the long term. Some will need substantial supports, some will need fewer supports and some will need a sheltered or just a very basic supportive environment. The Department of housing has a funding scheme available. It is about how we pull everything together to make sure that it is sustainable going forward for those who need these housing scenarios. I am familiar with the case in terms of the mild to moderate diagnosis and again, there needs to be flexibility in how that is applied to services. In my view, there should not be a categorical cut-off line in situations to do with disability. There should perhaps be a more subjective view from clinicians. Nothing is that straightforward in terms of disability. The Deputy is right that the emphasis, particularly in the southern region, is on emergency cases at the moment. I will talk to the Minister about that hearing issue raised by Deputy Mark Wall to see what supports can be provided. Obviously, we have to try to get the waiting times down and get greater access. Audiology has been problematic historically. We need to get more people into training places and recruit more people. It is a key area and it is related to speech as well. There is an inseparable connection between that and speech and language therapy. I will pursue this with the Minister. I would say to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan that if they have sanctioned the classes, we will have to provide them. The timelines might be problematic but we have to provide a facility for those two classes if they are sanctioned, unless there are other spaces on the school campus that could it on an interim basis. I will talk to the Department in respect of that. I assure Deputy Quaide that I will ask for a review of the wage subsidy scheme. When we came into government last year, the Department had done its review. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, launched it and I was at the launch. Some employers get good use out of it, but I am hearing that for some it is not turning out the way people might have envisaged. It was never the intention that it would be a disincentive to employing more. I will pursue that. We want to create a tipping point for people to employ people with disabilities. There are certain services where disabled people provide very good services to the community. It is an economic model and a social enterprise. They are not exactly well served by it either. I will talk to the Minister for an overall review in advance of the next budget. I understand that the number of special classes that have been sanctioned - Deputy O'Rourke mentioned that the number is 351 - is already higher than the number for last year. I think it was about 302 last year. That shows the scale of what is happening. I will get a precise figure for the Deputy from special education. It will be significantly more than that. Our objective is to make sure children are adequately provided for and have a place because that is their constitutional entitlement. Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to an "infamous" circular. It has been the circular since 2014. Since that circular, the number of SNAs has increased. It was 16,000 in 2020. If we go back to 2014, what was it? It must have been 10,000 or 12,000 and it is now at more than 25,000. It will probably go higher by next September. I do not know why the Deputy is calling it "infamous". There has been some expansion of SNAs since then. There will continue to be a growth in the number of special needs assistants. There is a new circular being issued. There has been engagement with stakeholders. There is also a new redeployment scheme on which there has been substantive stakeholder engagement and that is imminent and near completion. There is then the workforce planning document on which a lot of work has taken place as well. What should happen ordinarily on a year-to-year basis is the resources should follow the need and need will change. There will be increased need in some schools and there will be reduced need in other schools. It should not be done every five years. Covid-19 apparently interrupted the NCSE's approach to this. There should always be regular assessment of need in respect of what schools require. That should not be contentious.

How is the Taoiseach defining it?

In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, again, the budget has put in place substantial provision, particularly in terms of our child support payments - record increases in child support payments. In terms of the domiciliary care allowance, there was a substantial increase of €20 again, which was on top of last year's €20 increase. Combined with the working family payment, increases in entitlements and expansion of their access to entitlements, particularly free fuel, overall, there has been a very substantial embedded provision. There is also the 20% increase in disability services. In response to Deputy Heneghan, an aidhm atá againn ná níos mó tacaíochta a thabhairt d’fhostóirí, níos mó daoine faoi mhíchumas a fhostú agus níos mó deiseanna a chur ar fáil dóibh. Táimid chun é sin a dhéanamh agus tá a lán slite againn chun é sin a dhéanamh agus an aidhm sin a bhaint amach. Is pas saor i dtaobh taistil de a bhí faoi chaibidil ag an Teachta agus fiosróidh mé leis an Aire cad é an scéal agus conas is féidir linn an scéim a fheabhsú. In response to Deputy McDonald, I will talk to the Minister for Education and Youth in respect of the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra. There had been an issue with the recruitment of Irish sign writers - full-time teaching positions. I do not know whether that is the background to this or not, or whether it is a sanction issue, but it would be much better if schools had permanent in situ teachers as opposed to hiring people in. I will follow it up.

Just for clarity, I am not talking about teachers. I am talking about interpreters.

Sorry, the Deputy is talking about interpreters - point taken. In response to Deputy McGreehan, the disability committee is very outcome focused. From the get-go, we worked through the school-based therapy scheme. That is now up and running. The recruitment has started. The money was allocated. We are close to finalisation on a vehicle adaptation scheme under the Department of Transport, in combination with the Department of Finance. That will take some time to implement and work up but we are in a position where it will be a very positive outcome. We looked at the assessment of need issue. That committee took decisions on that in terms of legislation and legislative proposals. In terms of the investment in disability this year, there is an extra 20% in the HSE disability budget to go towards respite and residential support. All of that is coming out of the work of the committee. In terms of the budget, including the whole issue of the domiciliary care allowance, we had a specific disability focus as well from that disability Cabinet subcommittee and from the unit in my Department, which did work in advance of the budget and has done a paper on the outcome of the budget, and will do the same in advance of the next budget.