A chara, – We need to talk about the forgotten people.
Does anyone in the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) or the Department of Health realise that adults with an intellectual disability within community houses are crying out for an immediate roadmap for their future?
There appears to be an exit plan for everything from greyhound racing to gyms but no mention of adult human beings who are allowed a 30-minute visit from two nominated people once a week. Their lives changed overnight. Most adults with an intellectual disability are young, fit and healthy. Those who live in community houses are used to coming home every weekend, for summer holidays and any free time they have to interact with their families. All this, including their day centres, ceased in March. Their mental health is deteriorating by the day with nothing to look forward to. Can the experts in NPHET, the HSE and the Department of Health please wake up and let us know they care? We all have to live with this virus, probably for years, so may I suggest some equality and inclusion for a balanced life, please, with immediate effect. – Yours, etc,
RENA ROWE,
Ballyboughal,
Co Dublin.