Ms Aileen O'Donovan:

As parents we rely on our school system to be the service provider. There is small direction at the start but then the follow up is just very varied. It is exhausting for us as parents, to be the chaser, constantly on the phone. It is endless. Unfortunately, we might have to go back to an old fashioned, diagnosis-based, provider of services. We have Down Syndrome Ireland branches in most of our counties. I cannot understand why they cannot see that our children's need are very tailored but they are very direct. We know that they need x, y and z. A diagnosis of Down's syndrome is autofill. All these things are necessary no matter what level the child is at. They need it from birth to when they die, basically. They need it continuously. Just because they meet milestones like 12 or 18 does not mean it stops. The opportunity to use branches like Down Syndrome Cork and Down Syndrome Kerry, which have done amazing work, is being missed but that is selfishly in our little corner.