State ‘exported’ 55 people with intellectual disabilities, report says

PEOPLE with intellectual disabilities have been “exiled” to agencies outside of Ireland for the past 30 years and continue to be “ignored” in the provision of mental health services, according to a report.

The damning study — published to coincide with the fifth anniversary of A Vision for Change, a policy document drawn up to reform mental health services in Ireland — concludes the provision of mental health services for people with an intellectual disability (ID) continues to require “immediate prioritisation” by the HSE as it has not been afforded “any discernible concern”.

Excluded, Expelled and Exported: The citizens we’ve ignored and those we’ve exiled, which is published by The College of Psychiatry of Ireland, reveals that over the past 30 years at least €30 million has been spent on placing people in other jurisdictions.