Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to recognise the hurt and upset it causes families when they reach that stage where they are no longer in a position to care for their most precious. They reach out for help, and they really need it. Yet, they do not find that that help is being provided. We have to work. The system is not working. There is an unmet need. There are two parts needed to make it work. It is my job to ensure there is enough revenue in place to ensure we can move away from just emergency and building capacity towards the unmet need. That will come with the launch of the disability action plan. On the other side, I need the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as well as the local authorities to think at all times about individuals with disabilities so we ring-fence and hold properties for them.

I will share an initiative I have worked on in the county, namely, the Living My Life project, which is a residential pilot project for Galway city and county. It is organised between the Brothers of Charity and Ability West. I have ring-fenced funding for a five-year project and I am trying to trial it in Galway where my eyes can be on it, no more than Deputy Fitzmaurice’s eyes will be on it. This is for young people who are able to live independent lives to support them into employment and into education. At the same time, they will have the watchful, useful eyes of their parents who will be assisting them.

This is to build a residential space for them in their own community so that it never becomes an expensive emergency package. The project is getting in at the bottom and at the start in order to phase them into the community. I would like to tell the Deputy that the 32 spaces have been filled. However, I am 18 months into the project and it has taken me 18 months to get two social workers. I would therefore like to see a little bit more progress and force behind it. This is a model that I believe can work so we can prevent expensive emergency residential projects at the end. It also will ensure that when an emergency arises, that it will be prioritised because we will have addressed the unmet need along the way.

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