Disability Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Darren O'Rourke (SF), Meath East

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I know she understands the importance of these services for Noah and everybody else who accesses them for fulfilment, engagement, development and independence. She has articulated here and in the responses I have got before that a unique set of circumstances exist in Meath. It is a frustration for us in Meath that they were there. It is different now for people coming into the system. The wider point is about the need for an integrated system that can ensure that, where people cannot access public transport for whatever reason, a transport system is in place to allow people to have independence and not to be dependent on individuals. We can all imagine scenarios where someone's carer, support or transport provider, such as a family or friend, is not available because they are sick, away or so on, which has a knock-on impact. I ask the Minister of State to look at this issue, specifically at Noah's case, and at Meath, but also in a wider context at transport for people accessing adult day services. No two cases are the same. There are individual merits, for example, and if a needs assessment was done, a transport need might be identified in an individual case.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20