I welcome the Minister of State to the House. She is here on behalf of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, who, I understand, is tied up with parliamentary business and cannot be here today.

I am very conscious that the national housing strategy for disabled people 2022-27 provides a framework for the delivery of housing for people with all levels of disability. I also understand, of course, that housing is ultimately the responsibility of the Minister for housing and is not the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Foley. However, there is a level of dovetailing or cross-interest here in the sense that the Department of Children, Disability and Equality actually funds the provision of supports for community living in collaboration with the HSE. There is a crossover there and I want to acknowledge the excellent collaboration between the two Departments and the two Ministers.

I was prompted to raise this as a Commencement matter because about ten days ago there was an headline in the Irish Examiner which read, "Councils now have to set housing delivery targets for disabled people". That struck a chord with me. The article in the Irish Examiner referred to the Minister, Deputy Foley, and to a statement or contribution she made at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis. That statement was carried in Monday's papers. The article referred to a game changing new policy that will be "aimed at two groups - people who are able to live independently with some supports, and people who need specialist 24-7 wraparound care". The Minister of State, having spoken about these issues previously, knows the importance of having both. We want people to live independently, if at all possible but we recognise that is not possible for everyone. We recognise the policy of decongregation of institutional settings and understand the importance of wraparound services for people who have limited ability or limited access to supports. There is no one-size-fits-all course that works for everyone so there has to be flexibility in supports and provisions for people who want to live in their community. We all want to enable people to live and play a full and meaningful role within their own communities as much as possible but we also recognise, as do disability advocates and those with a disability, that they need supports.

The practice of emptying out fully residential support systems without providing wraparound supports has not worked. I am very familiar with a number of charities, which I will not mention here, that embarked on the emptying out of old, unsuitable institutional buildings. They put people in one-bedroom units, particularly around the greater Dublin area. People had been institutionalised in settings for a long time and suddenly after weeks there were no supports. Supports fell away. The novelty wore off. I think we have done a lot of learning there.

I also liked what the Minister, Deputy Foley, said, that for far too long disabled people have not been a priority for social and affordable housing. I think we will all agree with that. She mentioned the role of local authorities and the significance of that, and then mentioned the targets. Unless we measure this, and we set targets for all our local authorities, it is simply not going to happen. I commend the Minister, Deputy Foley, in particular on the initiative, although it is a Government initiative. We recognise that too many people with disabilities are not being enabled to play a full and meaningful role in the community in the way they wish. We also hear that it ties in with choice as regards where they want to live and the level of support they want.

It is a point worth making here again, although it is not part of the Commencement matter, that far too many people with a disability who want to work cannot get work. There is a bigger picture here. Today our focus is on housing and the collaboration between the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Browne. To follow all that initiative and support, we must put the money in place. I would be very interested to hear the Minister of State's response and am grateful to her for coming here this afternoon to deal with this matter.

I would like to thank Senator Boyhan for raising this important issue and for giving me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the both the Minister, Deputy Foley, and me. We are both in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.

As the Senator mentioned, the national housing strategy for disabled people provides the framework for the delivery of housing for people with all levels of disability. While the housing response itself falls within the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as the Senator has said, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality funds the provision of supports for community living, as well as supports for more complex specialist disability residential services, with the services provided either directly by the HSE or on behalf of the HSE by service providers.

The overall budget increase from €1.7 billion at the close of 2017 to close to €3.9 billion this year for specialist disability services reflects the programme for Government commitment to improving the lives of people with disabilities, signalling to those with a disability that this Government is committed to making a difference in their lives.

Specialist disability services that people with disabilities may need to live in local authority homes include disability residential services, personal assistance and home support. That is where the dovetailing the Senator spoke about comes in. In 2026, €65 million has been allocated to disability residential services for new developments, which includes €40 million that will provide in the region of 199 residential responses, and will also cover the 152 new residential placements. The remaining €25 million will support in the region of 40 residential packages for children in care with complex needs, the enhancement of existing residential placements, decongregation transitions, which the Senator mentioned, and the under 65s programme.

Other key supports that people with disabilities may need to live in local authority homes include home support and personal assistance services. The budget this year also provided €5 million to support the delivery of over 100,000 additional home support and 50,000 additional personal assistance hours, enabling approximately 7,000 people to receive disability home support services and almost 3,000 adults to receive personal assistance to maintain their independence.

As the Senator mentioned, the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Browne, along with their officials, have made significant progress, through the implementation structures established under the national housing strategy for disabled people, in improving co-ordination with the local authorities and disability service providers at local, regional and national level. This includes establishing the levels of unmet need for specialist disability residential services in each county or local authority area. This will inform the setting of targets in the local authority housing development action plans for two cohorts of disabled people, namely those living more independently in the community, and those with greater support needs, who will receive specialist disability residential services.

As the Senator said, if we do not have targets in place, it will be hard to motivate people to reach them. It is also very hard to measure the progress. I am a big believer in them and welcome them.

The Senator might also be interested to know that the HSE has established new housing co-ordinator roles and new residential planning and review teams. These are currently being hired for and will be in place this year to co-ordinate and oversee the delivery and planning of new residential placements and future placements, many of which will be delivered by local authority homes. At present, this is very much a crisis response, and we are very aware that we want to move towards a more sustained, planned response.

The Senator mentioned disabled people and work in his comments. I visited a service yesterday in Celbridge called Dara, which has a fantastic work-ready programme. Unfortunately, the level of disabled people in our workforce is currently at only 17%, but Dara has translated that 17% to 74% in its service.

There are very positive things happening around the country, and it is important we also shine a light on those.

I thank the Minister of State and ask her to convey my thanks to the Minister, Deputy Foley, for the response.

Key to all of this is, of course, the local authority and, as the Minister of State said, the housing development action plans. I do not know where they are, and if they are just about to start; it is pretty new. It would be interesting to keep an eye on that and let us all look at it again. Independent living, independent dignity, respect for the individual to make choices around their needs, accommodation, etc., are very important, and key to all of that is their being placed at the centre and heart of our communities, and to be supported in it all.

Clearly, the Minister of State's response emphasises the importance of ensuring we continue to support people with disabilities to live meaningful and fulfilling lives through their choices, direction and chosen pathways, with a person-centred approach across the services, tapping into the multi-community services.

Finally, I acknowledge that significant levels of funding will be required to roll this out over a period. It is not going to happen today or tomorrow, and that is a key ask. I ask the Minister of State to take back to the Minister my desire, and I am sure everyone's desire, that this be kept in focus as we run into the budget. This area needs resources and funding.

I thank the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Foley, for their comprehensive response.

I thank the Senator for that, and for everything he does to raise these very important issues.

I reiterate this is a priority for this Government. The Government recognises there is more to do to improve the lived experience of people with disabilities, and that is ultimately what this boils down to. The Senator set out in his own contribution that people are at the heart of this, and that is why we need to ensure we are doubling down on our efforts.

The increase in the disability budget for this year, which is 20%, demonstrates the multiple commitments made in the programme for Government to improving the lives of people with disabilities and making a difference. We need to ensure that funding translates into improved outcomes and expanded services.

I reiterate the importance of ensuring we continue to support people with disabilities to live meaningful and fulfilling lives, with a person-centred approach right across all our services. The ambition of Government is to bring about a step change in services for people with a disability in Ireland, and we are committed to the expansion and reform of disability services to maximise people's independence, to help support them to live ordinary lives in ordinary places.

The bottom line is the Government is aware of the challenges, which present across all regional health areas. The Department is actively engaging with the Department of housing and the HSE to explore new and existing ways of responding to demand, while appropriately managing the significant levels of funding provided to residential services.

The Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, is outside, so we will just swap over now.