Family of a person with disabilities living in Cork were offered respite care on the other side of the country in Donegal.
The chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters, Michael Moynihan, spoke out to the Irish Independent about the case.
Mr Moynihan said the committee heard how one Cork family was told by a national administrator for respite care that they could travel to Donegal if they wanted the service.
“Why would someone say that to a family or to a parent? That kind of language and attitude has to change,” he said.
He added he is “deeply frustrated” with the lack of services, particularly respite care, afforded to people with disabilities following the publication of his committee’s review of the sector.
“There is no doubt when we look back at it in some years to come, we will say the State did not do right thing by people with disabilities,” Mr Moynihan said.
“I have predicted, and I said it numerous times, that a future taoiseach will be going into the Dáil and saying we got this policy wrong.”
The Fianna Fáil TD said he is familiar with the issues faced by those with disabilities through some of his family members and said further state interventions are urgently needed to ensure the Government meets its commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Mr Moynihan said he is concerned about some of the testimony he heard during 20 public hearings.
Read the full report on www.independent.ie
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