Ageing parents of children with disabilities 'run ragged full-time caring have to be lobbyists too’

With nobody to represent them, people with intellectual disabilities may never leave for-profit emergency placements far from home, writes Cianan Brennan

Tony Murray at home with his wife Susan and their 42-year-old daughter Aoife, who has an intellectual disability and is cared for by her parents. Tony has set up Before We Die, an organisation aimed at changing the system so that a plan is in place for care to be provided for people like Aoife. Picture: Moya Nolan

The Irish healthcare system, a vast labyrinth of services and vested interests, has things which it does well and many things which it handles poorly.

Dental care, waiting lists, budgetary oversight — three areas where the public system could do a lot better than it currently does for patients.