Richard Boyd Barrett: Families Demand Urgent Plan for Supported Housing
Richard Boyd Barrett exposes an urgent shortfall in supported housing for adults with intellectual disabilities, citing figures from the Before We Die campaign and pressing the Government for a coordinated plan. He outlines recent steps he has taken, including placing the issue on the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Disability agenda and raising it with the Ministers for Housing, Disability and Health.
Immediate concern
Richard Boyd Barrett sets out the scale of the problem: around 2,000 adults with intellectual disabilities live with parents over 70, and about 500 live with parents over 80. Families fear what will happen when elderly carers die and are demanding a plan, a framework and urgent action on transitions into supported housing.
Government response
Boyd Barrett reports he has met the Before We Die group and has raised the issue directly with relevant ministers. He has placed the issue on the agenda of the next Cabinet Sub-Committee on Disability and says the current response from some Section 39 organisations - directing families to apply to local authorities - is unacceptable.
Joined-up approach required
He argues the solution must be coordinated across housing, disability and health services, with supports tied to housing and a continuum of care to match varying needs. Boyd Barrett stresses the present delivery of supported housing is inadequate and places undue pressure on older parents and their adult children.
Consequences and demands
The speech calls for a clear national framework, immediate action on transitions and a systemic, collective approach to prevent a looming care crisis for families. Boyd Barrett frames the issue as both a family emergency and a societal responsibility.
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Taoiseach, over the last week I had parents of children with intellectual disabilities from the Before We Die campaign in with me. They were pointing out that there are now about 2,000 adults with intellectual disabilities who are living with their parents who are over 70 and about 500 of those people are living with parents over 80. So their parents are extremely worried about what's going to happen to their children when they pass away and are asking, where is the plan? And they're saying there should be a plan, there should be a framework. The number of houses being delivered with supported housing they need is pathetic. They give me a figure of one transition for 2026 so far. One. With thousands of people needing it. So the question is, will you respond to the Before We Die campaign's call for a plan, for a framework and for urgent action to provide the transitions necessary for children with intellectual disabilities? I am responding to the issue. I met with the Before We Die group some weeks ago. I placed it on the agenda of the next Cabinet Sub-Committee on Disability. I spoke to the Minister of Housing, Minister for Disability, Minister for Health. What is needed here is a concerted collective approach. I acknowledge that the current situation isn't sustainable or satisfactory and creates undue pressure on parents, particularly parents of citizens and people who are senior of age and who need independence. And the idea that some of the Section 39s would just say go and apply to local authority and it's up to yourself is not on really. And I've made that very clear to the system. Bottom line is I think you need people joined up together. You need to have supports if someone gets housing. And there's a varying continuum of need. So some will need less support, some will need substantial support and so forth. And that's an issue I'm seized of. It's a very serious issue for the families concerned and society more generally.
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