Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 July 2021
97. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of applications on hand for full-time residential care in the CHO2 region for persons with intellectual disabilities; the additional resources it is planned to make available to meet the demand for these places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25443/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, residential care services account for 60% of the total budget of €2.2 billion allocated for specialist disability services this year, with over 8,100 people currently in residential placements.
The HSE utilises a Disability Support Application Management Tool (DSMAT), which enables CHOs to record and manage requests for support and to ensure that the application process is equitable and transparent. The demand for full-time residential placements within designated centres is currently extremely high. At a national level, as of July 2020, there were 1,033 applications for a residential placement, of which 92.7% related to applications from adults, while 6.3% related to children.
In relation to CHO 2, there were 110 applications for a residential placement, as of July 2020. It is important to note that these figures represent a "point in time" analysis and may not include applications which were received by the CHO, but not yet processed using the DSMAT tool.
The allocation of residential placements is determined on the basis of presenting need and/or associated risk factors. Each CHO continues to actively manage applications for support from service users with high levels of acuity/ safeguarding risks, through lower-cost non-residential interventions such as in-home and Residential Respite, active case-management and inter-agency cooperation.
This year, the Government provided an additional €100 million in the 2021 Budget for new disability developments. This includes €15m earmarked for 102 additional residential placements, with a focus on increasing capacity within residential services in a planned way and continuing to respond to the need for crisis residential placements. Within the allocation of €100m, additional funding has also been provided to increase the availability of intensive support packages to enable people with a disability and complex needs to remain living at home for longer.
