Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last Monday night Deputies John Brassil, Michael Healy-Rae and I met with the parents of the Nano Nagle school in Listowel. They articulated in a very painful way what they are encountering regarding their loved ones, both in terms of the adult services and the lack of respite services in their area. The reality is that, on occasion, an after-service is not available for some months after their children leave school, which is often due to a lack of trained staff at the facility they have been offered. Staff recruitment can take many months so young adults have to stay at home until recruitment is complete. This current process needs to be reviewed. The timescale to find a facility for these young adults is very short and there is rarely any transition time for them to get used to the new day services.

The way it has worked in the past is that, in September, school leavers are identified for the coming year and support services carry out an assessment and report to the adult day services. This should be completed by December in order to have the services available by May. We have been told by both the services that were available, as well as the Nano Nagle school, that the school-level referral process starts too late. They recommend that the students need to know where they are going after Nano Nagle at least two years ahead of time. There is also a problem with funding in that additional funding may be needed. I will continue the point in my supplementary contribution.

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