I thank and congratulate my colleague, Deputy Quaide, for the work he has done on this topic. Since he was elected to Dáil Éireann, he has been relentless in getting information and making sure that people who are vulnerable are represented in this Chamber. He has done so well to get this prepared and has worked so well with the Before We Die campaign. The numbers have already been stated. There are 2,300 adults with an intellectual disability living with their parents who are aged over 70. Of those, 500 are living with parents who are over 80 and then there are people living with parents who are over 90. All of us who have spoken today have talked about the fact it is heartbreaking that any parent would have to say, "I hope I die before my child because I do not know what is going to happen to them". This is 2026. It is an utter disgrace that anybody would have to feel they are pushed to that limit and that is how they would view the situation. We have let them down so badly. I want to praise the Before We Die campaign. Those people have had to come into this House and to the Seanad to tell personal stories and private things. They should not have had to do that. They should not have to do that. The structure should be there. Their children are adults, but they are their children. I have adult children. I still call them my children. The fact of the matter is we should have a stepping stone in this country for them when they leave school to say this is their employment, this is their education and this is what they want to do, and here are their friends and family and this is their neighbourhood. They need a choice in that. They need options but they are not freely available. Everything has to be a fight. All those things are set out in the UN conventions. There are protocols, but there is basic decency that we need to be providing in this country for people with disabilities. I am very happy and quite relieved that the Government is not opposing this motion we have put forward. As the previous speaker, Deputy Farrelly, said, it is important this is not seen as a political point-scoring situation. This affects everybody in this Chamber and outside this Chamber. This is a human decency issue. We need to be able to move that forward and work together. We will push the Minister of State. She should please accept our pushing. We are doing it in a respectful way, but she should please accept it. If we do not move along and have this issue sorted, and if we do not have proper dignity and not have people coming here and sharing their private, personal stories, there will be a State apology. I will say that again - there will be a State apology about this issue and how we institutionalise people with intellectual disabilities. We need to get this right. We will keep pushing the Minister of State. We hope she will listen and do all in her power.

Sentiment score: 0.09