183. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will report on the current funding model for disability support groups (details supplied) in relation to the home support model; and if there are plans to alter this model to ensure the continued viability of the home support model. [29048/26]

Home support services are provided to both children and adults with a wide range of disabilities from physical and sensory disabilities to intellectual disabilities and autism. The home support service assists the person with everyday tasks to enable them to live at home or with family.

In the order of 7,000 people with disabilities in Ireland are in receipt of home support with €3.4m provided under Budget 2026 to deliver approximately 100,000 additional hours this year. Budget 2026 also saw a substantial investment of €15m to increase the rate for service delivery for both home support and personal assistance, helping ensure providers can build and sustain the workforce needed to support people with disabilities every day and fulfilling a key Programme for Government commitment to align the disability rates with the rate paid for similar support services in other sectors.

Notably, a programme of reform is ongoing in the home support sector, encompassing both disability and older persons home support services. The programme has a vision at its centre of an equitable, person-centred, and enabling home support service that enhances service user and staff experience.

The introduction of an authorisation scheme for disability home support services is an important element of this new reform programme. The scheme, which is being developed by the HSE, will change how disability home support services are procured, moving from grant funded and invoiced arrangements to tendered arrangements. Its overarching aim is to ensure that the highest quality service providers are contracted to provide the best quality home support services for people with disabilities.

To support alignment in home support service provision across the sectors, the disability authorisation scheme will adopt the same approach as the authorisation scheme for older persons home support services (which has been in place since 2023) in terms of its specification of requirements and standard operating procedure, thereby ensuring that all home support service providers are held to the same standards for service delivery. While aligned with the older persons scheme, the disability scheme will also be customised to ensure it effectively addresses the specific needs of persons with disabilities.