Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being present. It is no exaggeration to say that people with disabilities and their families in my constituency of Louth-East Meath and across this State are being treated deplorably. I have met dozens of families with citizens with intellectual disabilities and they all tell a similar tale of the never-ending fight to access services from this State. These are services which should be theirs by right. The anger of parents in particular is palpable. They are furious at how their loved ones are being treated and they feel that nobody is listening.

I will give the House some examples and I thank those individuals for permitting me to tell their stories. Michael McManus was born in 1962. He suffered a seizure at two years of age which resulted in severe brain damage. As a result, Michael today, at 54, has the mental age and development of a two year old. Michael's family provided for all his needs at home until it was no longer possible for them to do so. This is a sad enough story but it is the State's attitude to Michael and people like him which really angers those who care for him. The day of Michael's mother's death, he was moved by the then health board to residential accommodation. His family later realised that Michael had been moved to a psychiatric facility in County Monaghan. Here, among other major issues, the family reported that Michael was attacked in his bed by another resident. It was only after a sustained campaign, including legal representation, that Michael was eventually given a place in St. John of God's-St. Mary's Drumcar facility, which is located in my constituency. There are many troubling issues with the Drumcar facility and I have raised these directly with the management and the HSE and in the Dáil. However, the fact is Michael has lived happily there for over 20 years. He now faces the possibility of being moved again as part of the decongregation policy.

Sinn Féin supports decongregation. Evidence backs the assertion that it delivers better quality of life for people in residential accommodation. However, we have to be sensitive about it. We have to consult with those people and we have to do it at their pace. For Michael and others, my office has been in contact with Drumcar, his home. These families are not against decongregation per sebut they have simply not been consulted by the HSE regarding the future plans for their loved ones. This, I am sure the Minister of State will agree, is totally unacceptable. The families have real fears that if their loved ones are moved, their quality of care will reduce, they may be moved to inappropriate locations and they will be traumatised by being taken out of their familiar surroundings.

Other families have cared for their loved ones all their lives. They describe themselves to me as "the first generation to bring the disabled babies home". This was a time when babies with disabilities were being put into mother and baby homes and other institutions. They have reared them from infancy. Now, their children are in their 40s or older. These people, now elderly themselves, have met a brick wall in terms of the future care of their now adult children. They are part of the Dundalk Parents and Friends of the Intellectually Disabled. They have been campaigning for years and working with the HSE, Louth County Council and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in order to provide future homes for their children in Dundalk.

One size does not fit all, particularly for people with additional needs. For every family like Michael's there is another family who cannot wait for their loved ones to be moved to a community setting. Will the Minister of State meet these families to hear their experiences and discuss the future care of our disabled citizens?

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