Report warns of support shortfall for people with an intellectual disability

Ireland will need 4,380 new residential, day and residential support places between now and 2019 to meet the needs of people with an intellectual disability who do not currently avail of these services.

The Annual Report of the National Intellectual Disability Database Committee 2014, published yesterday by the Health Research Board, charted the past 40 years of service provision for people with an intellectual disability and said there were now more service-users than ever before.

Those people are also now living longer, resulting in even more pressure on elements of the system of services available to them.