I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion today. I thank the Before We Die campaign for leading this initiative. I am grateful to Lorraine Doyle, from Dublin South-Central, for having spoken to me. I met her in relation to the campaign. From my own experience, I know just how much energy it takes to advocate for someone you love. Believe me when I say that as a public representative it is much easier to advocate for people who you are not related to or do not have a vested interest in. I know this from the experience of fighting for services for my own child. It takes huge strength as a family to advocate for your loved one. It is not easily done. I thank everyone for the huge amount of work and advocacy they have put into fighting for their family members. I spoke before about my son having level 3 autism, with high-support needs. He will, most likely, need a residential place in the future. This is not something I have considered as much as the parents in this campaign, so this is why I am so grateful for all the work and advocacy they are putting in. Like every parent, I want my son to have the opportunity to live in his own community surrounded by people and places he knows. None of us wants to be left wondering what will happen when we are no longer there to care for our children. I know the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, have been engaged with stakeholders and colleagues across Government. A huge amount of work has been done on this issue and new initiatives are coming down the pipeline. What is happening is really positive, but this is only because of the advocacy work the parents in this group have done. Families are sending us a very clear message via this motion from the Social Democrats. They need to see urgency. Too many people are left teetering on the edge of an emergency placement and this creates enormous trauma for individuals, their families and their wider circles. We have to move away, as my colleague has said, from a system that reacts to a crisis to one that plans ahead. I thank the Social Democrats again and I hope we can match the determination of these families with the urgency they deserve.

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