HSE planning to 'significantly improve access' for children waiting on disability services

The HSE pledges by the end of this year to have implemented 50% of the aims in the Roadmap for Service Improvement 2023-2026.

More than 13,500 children and families are waiting for disability services, with the HSE pledging to “significantly improve access” this year as it acknowledges it "must do better”.

It also warned costs of running disability services at current levels are “a significant challenge in the context of the total funding available to specialist disability services” for this year.

The service plan acknowledges a number of crisis points including long waits for assessments of need and the impact of staff shortages on all services including respite. “Families of adults with disabilities are concerned that services and supports will not be available when they can no longer maintain their caring role,” the plan said.

Funding is allocated for an additional 95,000 personal assistants and 40,000 home support hours. Some 70 extra residential places for people assessed as Priority 1 and 40 places for young people under a joint protocol with Tusla are funded.

The way respite is delivered could see changes, including more in-home respite support hours, home-sharing short breaks, and group-based targeted services such as summer camps and evening sessions.

A number of detailed plans for this sector have now been developed including a capacity review. The HSE pledges by the end of this year to have implemented 50% of the aims in the Roadmap for Service Improvement 2023-2026.

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Funding will continue to try and reduce delays for an assessment of need including “further development of assessment hubs”.  The plan says families waiting “long periods of time” will be supported in this, but does not define what 'long' means.

An additional 1,250 to 1,400 new day service placements for school leavers and graduates of rehabilitative training are planned. It is not yet clear how far these plans will go to address the significant gaps also identified.

In another area of concern relating to people with disabilities aged under 65 living in nursing homes, funding will only cover 15 transfers to housing this year. This compares to an estimate in May of 1,242 people in this situation.

Funding will also provide for 21 people of all ages to transfer to community living from residential care in a separate programme. 

Staff shortages

The plan warns of “sustainability challenges” facing many service providers including challenges around recruitment and keeping staff. The pay differences between organisations funded under the Section 39 pay deal compared to their HSE peers is also noted.

Among the solutions planned for the acute staffing crisis are continued investment into undergraduate training and sponsorship programmes. Financial concerns around staffing are also indicated.

The plan said the HSE aims to “manage the total disability-funded workforce in line with the financial allocation“ it receives.

The HSE notes the ability to carry forward recruitment campaigns started last year is “critical to the ongoing implementation” of access plans in children’s services.

The plans include funding for 40 therapy staff, 20 therapy assistants, and 15 clinical psychology placements. It plans to reduce the waiting lists for Children’s Disability Network Teams by 10% also by targeted recruitment.

Some €3.2bn has been provided in day-to-day funding for specialist disability services in 2025 by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. This is an 11.5% increase on 2023, the HSE said.