Spending Review: Disability Residential Services

This Spending Review examines trends in activity and expenditure for Disability Residential Services in Ireland from 2019 to 2024. It provides an overview of the context in which these services operate, followed by an examination of placement activity and expenditure trends. The analysis highlights increasing costs in the sector and assesses the availability of disability residential service data. The review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of disability residential care in Ireland and future considerations for this sector.

The paper is divided into five main sections. Section 1 of this Spending Review provides an overview of disability residential services in Ireland. Section 2 presents key activity and expenditure trends in disability residential services. Building on this, section 3 provides a more thorough analysis of the expenditure data with a focus on average cost per placement, analysis of ‘schedule 3’ returns and placement profiles. Section 4 presents a discussion on data availability and limitations faced in completing this Spending Review. Section 5 concludes with a summary of key findings, along with suggestions for additional data collection, reporting and analysis.