Parliamentary questions

321. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total additional Exchequer funding approved to support increases in rates paid to private providers of residential childcare and foster care placements in each of the years 2023 to 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27511/26]

322. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has considered publishing summary value-for-money assessments or aggregated cost data relating to private childcare placements funded by Tusla, in the interest of transparency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27512/26]

323. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether there is a defined national policy framework governing the reliance on private providers for residential childcare placements, including any targets, limits, or strategic objectives in relation to public versus private provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27513/26]

324. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the most up-to-date data available on the number of adults with intellectual disabilities living at home with ageing or elderly parents who are their primary carers, particularly where carers are over retirement age, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27561/26]

325. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current number of supported residential housing units available for adults with intellectual disabilities; the number of additional units currently planned or in development, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27562/26]

326. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to confirm whether all relevant service providers in Laois have submitted disability support management advisory team forms to the HSE in respect of unmet residential support needs; the steps being taken to move from crisis-based emergency placements towards planned, long-term supported housing in line with the objec…

327. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality for an update on the waiting times for an assessment of need in County Offaly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27634/26]

328. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason the director of special care in Tusla has been removed from their post, the grounds for this removal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27675/26]

329. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if an increased allowance for special care has been rejected by the Department of Public Expenditure; Infrastructure; Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, if so, the reason for this; the action she will take; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27678/26]

2327. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the plans being put in place for a location (details supplied) and for the adjoining lands and unused buildings in Beaufort, County Kerry; if she will give favourable consideration to the use of this property for urgently needed respite services for both adults and children with profound disabilities; and if she w…

2328. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the recently revised assessment of need framework limits or reduces access to cognitive assessment for children, including in cases where intellectual disability is not suspected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23521/26]

2329. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the way in which the revised framework ensures that children with uneven developmental profiles, including those who may be gifted or twice exceptional (i.e. children with both high ability and additional needs such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia), will be appropriately identified within the system; and if she will mak…

2330. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment on the way in which the revised model may affect the identification of children whose needs are masked by high cognitive ability or compensatory functioning; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23523/26]

2331. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the safeguards in place to prevent under-identification of such children, particularly in light of evidence that twice-exceptional children are already under-recognised within Irish education and disability services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23524/26]

2332. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department will clarify if access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where there is evidence of significant intra-individual discrepancy, asynchronous development, or unexplained underachievement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23525/26]

2333. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether consideration has been given to the potential for increased reliance on private assessments arising from any restriction in public access to cognitive assessment; and the implications this may have for equity of access; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23526/26]

2334. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the training or guidance being provided to assessment officers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure that complex presentations, including masking and twice-exceptionality, are recognised under the revised model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23527/26]

2335. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will confirm whether her Department intends to review the implementation of the revised assessment of need framework to ensure that no cohort of children is excluded from identification due to the streamlining of assessment processes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23528/26]

2336. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether, under the revised assessment of need framework, access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where clinically indicated, including where a child’s needs may be masked by high cognitive ability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23562/26]

2337. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the safeguards in place under the revised assessment of need framework to ensure the identification of children with complex or uneven developmental profiles, including twice-exceptional children with both high ability and additional needs such as autism, ADHD or dyslexia; and if she will make a statement on the ma…

2338. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has carried out any impact assessment, equality screening, or child-rights analysis of the revised assessment of need framework in respect of children at risk of under-identification, including those whose needs may be masked by high cognitive ability; and if she will make any such assessment…

2339. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the training or guidance that is being provided to assessment officers and multidisciplinary teams to recognise complex presentations, including masking and twice-exceptionality, whether the implementation of the revised framework will be reviewed to ensure no cohort is excluded from identification or support; whet…

2340. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total number of children who are currently in the care of State, with a separate column for the number of unaccompanied minors, in tabular form. [23622/26]

2341. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children in foster care for each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to-date in 2026, in tabular form. [23623/26]

2342. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of foster carers approved for foster care in each of the years 2020 to 2025 and to-date in 2026, in tabular form. [23647/26]