The Health Service Executive (HSE) is to provide a special €45 million allocation to develop disability services and facilities across the State.
In addition to funding new facilities and units, the allocation will also provide money for technology such as specially adapted laptops and computer programs for students with disabilities.
The money to be made available in the special allocation will be earmarked for projects in addition to those set out in the HSE's overall capital programme which was published earlier in the year.
One of the largest sums from the new funding will be a €1 million allocation to Sunbeam House Services in Co Wicklow to purchase a unit in Bray to provide a new day service for 20 clients.
A total of €960,000 is also to go towards the development of a day centre in Prosper in Fingal, which is due to open shortly.
The funding will also include €900,000 for a facility for early intervention/children's services in East Limerick and €850,000 for a day centre at the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) in Dublin.
There will also be €750,000 for a residential unit for adults in Meath and €600,000 to provide a dedicated adult autism respite facility in Limerick.
The HSE said that in addition to these relatively large capital sums, smaller amounts would be made available for areas such as "assistive technology".
"This is an increasingly important and developing area, where individuals with disabilities have access to technology that is adapted for their needs and software that is designed to address their particular requirements, for example, specially adapted laptops and programmes that now assist students at primary, secondary and third level to pursue their education with greater ease," the authority said.
"For college students, this service, along with personal assistants, means they can attend a college of choice and pursue the course of choice," the HSE said in a statement.
The HSE said that statistics for last year showed there were 8,181 persons with disabilities in residential care, 24,386 in receipt of day care services and 4,242 in receipt of respite services.
It said the 2007 service plan includes a commitment to provide 255 additional residential places, 85 respite places and 535 day places in the area of intellectual disabilities, nationally.
The plan stated that the HSE would make "significant progress in the ongoing transfer of persons with an intellectual disability from inappropriate settings".
In the area of physical and sensory disability, the service plan allows for the provision of 80 new residential places and 250,000 additional hours of personal assistance/home supports.
Commenting on the new disability funding allocation, Priya Prendergast, assistant national director of the HSE, said: "Services for people with a disability seek to enable each individual to achieve their full potential and maximise independence. This especially includes assisting individuals to live as independently as possible. Investment through the special allocation in the 2007 capital plan allows us to proceed with many varied and important projects and services."
