Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before I call on the Minister of State to respond, I would like to say I had hoped I would be down in the Chamber myself and in a position to address him. I am limited in what I can say here. I will raise issues, particularly in the area of persons with intellectual disabilities, with him again. The Minister of State came to the Chamber to reply to a Commencement Matter in my name where there was a problem with adults with intellectual disabilities accessing services in the Ballina area. Indeed, one individual had been waiting several years. There was some movement and that movement seems to have stopped. I would ask the Minister of State to have a look at it again.

On one other point, in the same vein that Senator Boyhan alluded to, which is the issue of persons with intellectual disabilities who have grown up in institutions being forced into community settings, there needs to be more consideration of the feelings of the individuals and the individual impacts because community settings are not suitable for some who have been institutionalised all their lives and are happy in that setting. That needs to be acknowledged by the experts. I say that having worked with persons with intellectual disabilities in an institutional setting for a time.

I have probably gone further than I should. I will get to speak to the Minister of State again. I call on him to respond.