Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am determined that the crisis-driven service that we had in the past, which was more costly and was very unsatisfactory for those with disabilities and their families will no longer pertain. I do not accept that something is a crisis when it happens every year. This is something for which we should be able to plan and that is what we are doing.

If we are serious about mainstreaming people with disabilities and ensuring that they live the type of lives that we would expect to be able to live then a combination of efforts is required. It should not be necessary, for example, for people to be driven to every single venue. St. Michael's House, for instance, presented a project which involved service users being trained to use their free bus pass, which was a freeing experience for them, although I accept fully that not everyone is in that position.

We must be very careful to ensure that people with disabilities who are coming out of institutions into the community do not find themselves more isolated than they were previously. I am very conscious of that danger and will be very careful about how we manage the transition to ensure that people do not find themselves isolated within communities.

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