€10m additional funding for respite for people with a disability and their families

There will be a further €3 million for additional respite houses in the greater Dublin areas (CHOs 7, 8 and 9) to support an extra 225 individuals in a full year, and 143 in 2018, and €2 million for alternative models of respite to support 250 individuals with a disability.

The additional investment of €10 million is resourcing new centre-based residential respite and alternative respite services for people with a disability and their families/carers.

This investment is additional to the respite services the HSE has already committed to provide as part of its National Service Plan 2018, which targets providing more than 42,500 day places and 182,500 overnights for more than 6,320 people with a disability who avail of these services.   

“The implementation of this new respite programme across the nine Community Healthcare Organisations (CHOs) is well advanced,” according to the HSE.

“Each CHO, working with a national oversight group, has put in place a comprehensive plan to develop these additional respite services in their area and tailor services towards local need.”