HSE apologises to mother of intellectually disabled adult child over 'threatening' letter

Mother seeking residential placement says daughter’s needs have escalated as HSE cites parental obligation and funding constraints

Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed he had been advocating on the woman’s behalf with both the HSE and the Section 39 body with which her daughter engages.

The HSE has “sincerely apologised” after sending a letter to the mother of an adult child with an intellectual disability warning her of her “legal obligation” to support her daughter financially “indefinitely”.

A HSE spokesperson said the regional manager who wrote the letter “did not intend to cause any upset”.