3030. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps taken to implement the findings of the HRB/NASS annual bulletin on people engaging with disability services, in relation to accommodation provision for adults with intellectual disabilities, for each year from 2022 to 2025 and to date in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61481/26]

The Department of Children, Disability and Equality continues to engage with the HSE, to expand and develop residential services for people with disabilities.

The HRB annual bulletin on people engaging with disability services is prepared with data from the National Ability Supports System (NASS), a national database managed by the Health Research Board (HRB). The NASS records information on HSE-funded disability services for planning and development. It covers individuals with intellectual, physical, sensory, or autism-related disabilities. Its main purpose is to gather data to plan, develop, and organise services for people with disabilities and in particular, records information on services required within 5 years. Reports are published annually and are available on the HRB website, www.hrb.ie.

The NASS data is utilised by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality along with the HSE in conjunction with other comprehensive data sources, such as the Disability Supports Application Management Tool (DSMAT), for the purposes of future planning.

As part of the annual Estimates and Budgetary processes, discussions take place between the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and the Health Service Executive in relation to funding requirements for the provision of and improvements in specialist disability services, within available resources. Those discussions are informed by a range of comprehensive data sources which indicate the demand for residential and other disability services. These sources include the Disability Capacity Review (to 2032), demand indicated in the NASS database, and the detailed profiling undertaken by the HSE using the DSMAT.

In recognition of the very high demand for supports for people with disabilities, significant investment has been provided in the last number of years to support the HSE to expand the provision of services including residential services.

As of June 2026, 8,991 specialist disability residential places are being delivered by approximately 90 service providers. Since 2020, additional funding provided to the HSE has supported the creation of over a thousand additional residential places for people with disabilities.

Approximately €3.9 billion of funding has been allocated to Specialist Disability Services in 2026. Specialist disability residential services make up the largest part of the Disability funding disbursed by the HSE, almost 60% (€2.2bn) of the total budget.

€65m has been allocated to Disability Residential Services in 2026 for new developments, which includes €40m of funding that will provide in the region of 199 new residential responses. This includes 152 newly created residential placements consisting of 72 planned placements and 80 (Priority 1) new placements to meet urgent need, as outlined in the HSE’s National Service Plan for 2026. Funding will also support new residents in existing placements that have become vacant and require enhancement and in limited circumstances, placements in nursing home settings.

The Disability Action Plan 2024-2026 set out an overall strategic approach to provision of new disability residential care places and an overall target for the period, subject to annual budgetary and Estimates decisions.

The Annual HSE Service Plan details the number of additional disability residential places to be provided in line with the resources available. The table below sets out the number of new places expected in the HSE Service Plan for the relevant years, the number of new places actually delivered, and the number of new individuals who received a residential place. Every year, vacancies arise in existing residential services, so that the number of people who move into a residential place is normally greater than the number of additional residential places provided.