Mr. Gareth Noble:

Briefly, Senator Flynn articulated very well what the real challenges are and the longer-term picture if we do not get this right. Early intervention is there for a reason. It is there because it mitigates against difficulties down the line. Certainly from a legal perspective, the rights of young vulnerable adults are even less available than for children under the Disability Act. Picking up on what Senator Flynn, Ms Comerford and Ms Murphy have said, parents who come to see me, often now through Zoom now, are beyond wanting tea and sympathy from decision markers. They want action. One mum recently said to me, it is like they put up the 110 m hurdles along the track, she gets over them and then she looks around the other side of the track and the 110 m hurdles are being put up all over again. We have got to stop that. We must look after our carers. We must empower them to feel that when they go knocking on a door they will be invited in rather than closed off. I see many young people now in adulthood who are struggling. They do not have day centres to attend and respite is an invisible entity and at the more extreme end because their needs were not met at an early stage, we are taking them into wardship and residential centres and so on. Much of this can be avoided if we take early intervention seriously.