Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 May 2023
467. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Social Protection the current number of advocates, per county, in the national advocacy services for persons with disabilities in each of the years 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25999/23]
View answerThe National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities (NAS) is funded and supported by the Citizens Information Board (CIB), a statutory body under the aegis of my Department. CIB has a mandate under the Citizens Information Act 2007 to provide advocacy for people with disabilities.NAS provides a free and confidential issues-based representative advocacy service to adults with a disability. NAS works across four regional areas - Midlands North East, Greater Dublin, Fingal and Wicklow, Southern Region and Western Region.
The table below sets out current number of NAS Advocates, per region, in 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023. This data encompasses both NAS Senior Advocates and NAS Advocates.
It should be noted that, throughout 2022, NAS had a number of staff members on maternity leave and long-term sick leave, that required backfill posts to be recruited. This increased the overall number of NAS advocates in 2022.
|
- |
Number of NAS Advocates by Region 2021- Q1 2023 |
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|
Region |
2021 |
2022 |
Q1 2023 |
|
Midlands North East |
7 |
8 |
6 |
|
Greater Dublin, Fingal and Wicklow |
10 |
12 |
9 |
|
Southern Region |
10 |
9 |
8 |
|
Western Region |
9 |
9 |
9 |
|
Total |
36 |
38 |
32 |
