HSE manager has 'empathy' for mother of intellectually disabled adult, but action 'not sensible'

On Wednesday, the HSE 'sincerely apologised' for the letter that was sent to the mother, saying that the manager who wrote the message 'did not intend to cause any upset'.

The head of HSE South-West says he has "empathy” for the situation of a Cork mother who dropped her intellectually disabled child to an emergency department, but described her actions as “not sensible”.

The mother in question dropped her adult daughter, who is classified by the HSE as having a moderate intellectual disability, to an emergency department recently, as her child’s aggressive behaviour had become impossible to manage at home.

She said she had taken the desperate action on foot of her exasperation at being unable to access a disabled residence for her child.

The woman subsequently received a letter from the HSE’s head of disability services in the South-West, informing her of her “legal obligation” to support her daughter financially “indefinitely”.

Appearing at the Oireachtas disabilities matters committee, Dr Andy Phillips, the regional executive officer for the South-West, said it was “clearly difficult” for him to comment on an individual case.

Asked by Independent senator Tom Clonan — who is a father of an adult disabled child — if he supported the view that such a child is the financial responsibility of parents only, Dr Phillips said that “my view ... is to have tremendous empathy for parents in this situation”.

Asked if he felt that the letter in question, for which the HSE has now apologised, demonstrated such empathy, Dr Phillips said he does “have an understanding of this specific case, and the circumstances are rather difficult”.

“I have tremendous empathy for parents, and this particular parent, just to say it is not a sensible thing for parents to drop their children off,” he said.

Financial maintenance

It is unclear what legal precedent the HSE disabilities manager was citing when he asserted that the financial maintenance of a child with a disability is the sole responsibility of the parents.

Mr Clonan said the letter demonstrates that “we, in the view of the HSE, are primarily and exclusively responsible for the care and accommodation of adult, disabled children until we die”. 

He said such an assertion was roundly rejected by the electorate in the 2024 care referendum.

Dr Phillips said: “It’s clearly difficult for me to comment in this forum on an individual case. I’m not sure it’s appropriate for me to do so.”

On Wednesday, the HSE “sincerely apologised” for the letter that was sent to the mother. It said that the manager who wrote the message “did not intend to cause any upset”.

The mother, a constituent of Taoiseach Micheál Martin, told the Irish Examiner she felt the letter was “very threatening”,  and that her daughter had been “weaponised” by the HSE.