Yesterday, I stood in the Chamber and talked about women being turned away from refuge spaces when they were fleeing violence. Today, we are back here again, talking, fighting and asking for something once more that citizens in this country should never have to go without. It is not just a safe home, but a place of sanctuary, a residence for some of the most vulnerable people in this State - adults with intellectual disabilities. That should never be a luxury. It should never be seen as an aspiration. It should just be a basic need that is met. It is an indictment of one of the wealthiest countries in the world that so often Opposition TDs spend so much of our time in this House pleading for the most basic rights of some of the most vulnerable people in our society. I know many of the families behind the Before We Die campaign. I met Tony Murray, his wife, Susan, and their daughter, Aoife, when I was out canvassing, as everybody in this Chamber has had to do. It was extraordinary when I was knocking on their door asking them for a vote and they were asking what I would to contribute to the fact that their child may not have a place to live after they die. It was a conversation that will stay with me for as long as I remain in politics and afterward. I have watched Tony and Susan spend years carrying burdens that they should never have been forced to carry. They should never have to fight every single day, week or year just to get the State to recognise that their son or daughter deserves security, dignity and a future. Equally, thousands of families are living with a fear that no parent should ever have to. It is not just the fear of growing old, but a fear of what happens after they are gone. Imagine carrying that every single day, wondering who will care for your child, where they will live, and wondering if they will be uprooted from everything and everyone they know because no one in the State has thought to make a plan. Some parents have said they hope to outlive their own children because they have so little faith that the State will protect them. That is a devastating thing for any parent to have to say, and it should be a devastating thing for any Minister to have to hear. Our survey confirmed exactly what the Before We Die campaign has been telling us for years. A total of 86% of families told us there is no clear written plan for the future. Families describe themselves as worried, anxious, powerless, afraid and terrified. That is not because the families have not planned. It is because the State has not. Instead of asking what life this person wants to live, we wait until a family reaches breaking point, until a parent dies, until there is a crisis, and then we ask a completely different question - "Where is the nearest vacant bed?". That is not planning. Every person with an intellectual disability is an individual with their own relationships, routines, friendships and communities. Their life cannot be reduced to whenever a vacancy happens to exist. They deserve a place where people will know their name, where family can visit without driving halfway across the country and where their friends are. That is what Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promises. It is what far too many people in Ireland are still denied. Our motion asks for something very reasonable: a proper national strategy, real planning, real accountability and homes built around the person, not around whatever space happens to become available. Families cannot continue to carry this burden alone. Disabled people and adults with intellectual disabilities should not have to wait for a crisis before the State decides they deserve somewhere to call home. Every Tuesday evening in the handball alley in Ballybough, families, parents and guardians of adults with intellectual disabilities join each other in company to share stories, to have support networks and a place for their adult children to be present with friends. I have visited and been invited on a couple of occasions. When you stand in the room and hear the stories from people, some of whom who have lost partners themselves, their abiding fear is what happens after they die. It is an extraordinary indictment of our Republic. This problem is not insurmountable. It requires resourcing, planning and not just listening, which I appreciate that the Minister has done, but immediacy of action. Tony and Susan's determination alongside their fellow campaigners in Before We Die should be an example to all of us, but we should not be back here in a year's time asking where the plan is. It should already be in motion. That is the minimum of what this motion expects of us. I thank Deputy Quaide for bringing this forward and for the diligence he has brought to this issue.

Sentiment score: -0.06