477. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the amount of new funding allocated in Budget 2026 for day service places for school leavers; the details of the way in which that money will be spent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40843/26]

HSE-funded day programmes for people with intellectual disabilities, autism, or complex physical disabilities include a range of centre-based and community-based activities. Access to services is based on an individual’s needs rather than on their diagnosis. The focus is on supporting people to participate in the mainstream activities and in the life of their community, in line with their wishes and needs.

Day services are a vital support for adult with disabilities to participate in the life of their community and to realise their own ambitions and desires. The majority of young people due to leave school in a given year that require a HSE funded day service have been profiled by the end of the previous year to establish their support needs. Once needs are identified, referrals are made to the service provider of choice, funding is committed and negotiations are concluded with providers by end of May to confirm placements to young people and their families. In many instances young people due to leave school at end of June are introduced to their day services for trialling purposes during April, May and June so there is a natural transition into day services in September.

€45.9m in new development funding is allocated in Budget 2026 for Day Services. This includes the full year cost of 2025 school leaver placements as well as the new cohort of school leavers in 2026. Budget 2026 also provides specific funding to develop placements for in the order of 50 adults with specialist disability service needs who are not school leavers. This will support opportunities to those who may have acquired a disability later in life or who in later life choose to attend the service.