Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this topic and the Minister of State for being present. Parents of children with intellectual disabilities who are about to leave school are in a dilemma as they do not know what services, if any, the children can avail of when school finishes next month. The difficulty is believed to affect more than 700 children, voluntary service providers are pointing out that the reduced funding has resulted in the paring back of services, and there is no capacity to care for further people as there is pressure to find sufficient resources to care for people already within the system.

Many of these children require ongoing speech and language support, physiotherapy or occupational therapy. Parents fear their children will regress if they do not receive the necessary support. Each year, the Department of Health offers funding to provide emergency placements and services for school leavers, but according to recent reports in the media, for the first time there will be no provision of such funding this year. Voluntary services, as we know with all other Departments, have been facing cuts over recent years and are struggling to maintain existing provisions. Support groups have indicated cuts are also exacerbated by the recruitment moratorium and the reduction in front-line services.

Fears are being expressed by parents of people with intellectual disabilities that the current issues will result in a reduced quality of life for those involved. A number of parents in Galway have been told by service providers that there are no places for their children, and transport and respite services are also being reduced. The HSE has stated a commitment to using all available resources in a creative and flexible manner to respond to the needs of these service leavers. I was contacted by a parent in Ballinasloe yesterday whose 18 year-old son at this point does not know what services will be available to him. He is a young man with a great level of needs, and I ask the Minister of State in her reply to state what, if anything, can be done in that case.

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