Funding cuts - We can’t let services be torn apart

The Irish Examiner begins the first day of a two-part investigation today in relation to the cutback in services for “our most vulnerable”.

The Health Service Executive’s cutbacks during the summer caused alarm as respite services were closed down or curtailed throughout the country.

Following a massive brouhaha, the HSE reinstated many of the respite services that had been cut, but families live in fear that the cuts may be reintroduced again. The stories related in today’s articles demonstrate that these services are invaluable not only to the parents and families of those suffering from intellectual disabilities, but also to the sufferers themselves.