482. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the amount of new funding allocated in Budget 2026 for additional home support hours; the way in which that money will be spent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40848/26]

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 home support 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.