Ms Derval McDonagh:

If someone was to design the whole system again and there was a clean slate relating to how to support people with intellectual disabilities or disabled people in general, the system would look absolutely nothing like it does today. We are dealing with substantial legacy issues concerning institutionalisation. In the past, things were set up through groups coming together where the State was not providing services. Group models of services, including day services, and group homes have been used. If we were to redesign the system now, we would start with affected persons early in life and figure out what they want and need, the kinds of lives they want and how their families can support them in getting there, as in every family. Unfortunately, however, that is not how the system is set up right now. There are systemic issues. The blocks would be released a little if we got more into planning mode and were less in crisis mode. The crisis is perpetuating the thinking because, if you are dealing only with people in trauma and in crisis, you are putting in emergency measures and taking out choice and control. If we put in place planned services for people over time, we would unpick some of this slowly but surely. There would be less resistance over time and more positive examples of people such as Paul and others moving out into community settings.

I agree that there are many working in the system who are hungry for this change and on board, but it is a mammoth task to make the ship turn around. I would like to see more sharing of stories of possibilities. We need to do a better job in organisations such as ours of painting a picture of what is possible. We need the systemic issues addressed, moving from crisis mode to planning. There are opportunities to do that. Report upon report has been written about what needs to happen over the next few years, and we just need to see the plans implemented.