Disability Issues Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-07 ============================================================ Eileen Lynch (FG), Agricultural Panel I thank the Minister of State so much for being with us to discuss this important issue. It is one that affects many families countrywide, namely, the lack of a clear plan for provision of accommodation for those with intellectual disabilities. Many families, parents, siblings and guardians provide care at home for loved ones with intellectual disabilities. This is saving the State millions in service costs ever year, but the question that has been asked for quite some time is what happens when the carer can no longer care. These people have been failed by successive governments due to lack of planning for something that is entirely foreseeable. I appreciate we cannot come up with a solution overnight but recently I met a group called Before We Die. The Minister of State has met them, as have an Tánaiste and an Taoiseach, and the Minister of State is aware of their recent survey, their report and their eight demands. This group represents concerned parents and caregivers all over the country who do not know how or where their children will be cared for when they can no longer care for them. There are currently over 110,000 people with intellectual disabilities. Almost 30,000 of them are aged 15 and over and live in the family home. Based on CSO figures, 2,314 carers are over 70 and at least 500 of them are over 80. Almost 300 of those are based in my county of Cork. According to a survey carried out by Before We Die dealing with the families they represent and the members of their organisation, 78% of families have no formal housing plan, 20% are progressing informal conversations about housing and only 2% have a formal written housing plan in place. We need a cross-departmental approach to ensure a functioning housing plan is in place for those with disabilities. A record of those seeking accommodation provision needs to be created and I am aware that is something the Minister of State is working on but the vast majority of families are unaware they need to ensure their child is on the housing list in order that they can be provided for and that those in the Department are fully aware of the need and the level of need they are dealing with. Simple issues like how long it can take to get a HMD form 1 filled out can delay applications. I acknowledge that we have seen progress recently in the joined-up approach and initiative that has been taken by Cork County Council and Cork City Council in relation to providing social housing for those with intellectual disabilities. One fairly basic thing they have done is appoint a dedicated liaison officer for social housing in each council for those with intellectual disabilities. This is something that needs to be rolled out in local authorities across the country. This is not an easy problem to solve and we need a multifaceted approach. In the very short term and in the upcoming budget, we need to introduce an emergency funded plan for carers aged over 70. These families simply cannot wait. If we do not deal with it now, we will be dealing with it in a crisis situation where we have no choice but to provide. Ireland’s residential provisions for adults with intellectual disabilities, IDs, cost significantly more per person than comparable systems across the EU because our current model is inefficient. The cost of a new residential placement rose from 284,000 in 2019 to 332,000 in 2022, and 63% of placements were done through for-profit businesses. I accept that the Government is putting money into this but I question whether it is being put into the right places. I am not sure it is economically efficient, but it is certainly not working for caregivers and service users. It is also vital that we listen to carers and those who have the lived experience. They have to be involved in this process. We need to look at the needs of the individual. We previously had a policy of decongregation but that does not necessarily work for everyone. There are certain people with high-volume care needs who will work better on their own whereas those with a lower care need will work better in housing where they are not isolated and they have shared services, and where integration is a better option. We need to take all of those things into account. Fundamentally, though, we need a place right now. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-07/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-07