A South Tipperary couple have appealed for suitable residential care and education facilities for their disabled son.
Because he has reached the age of 18, Mr Brian O'Leary from Castlekeale, Ardfinnan, must leave Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel in June, the same month that he will represent his country in the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin.
A cerebral palsy and epilepsy sufferer, Mr O'Leary has attended the Cashel school daily for the past five years.
His parents, Vera and Fran, are disappointed that there is no place for their son because they have supplied information about his special needs to a health board data base for the past five years in the expectation that he would be accommodated once he left school.
Before attending Scoil Aonghusa he had been cared for at the Noonan Centre in Cashel since he was two.
His mother said that he needed a high-support centre. Because he is fully dependent he is unable to attend a workshop or similar centre.
The O'Learys say their son is very demanding at home, but at school he is more sociable and placid and gets on very well with the other pupils at Scoil Aonghusa.
His father says that school gives him an outlet.
"He is so happy at Scoil Aonghusa he would stay there for ever", he said.
"The only thing that keeps Brian going is his routine and school", his mother said.
The family is now faced with the prospect of looking after him at home on a full-time basis.
This is a situation that they feel will be impossible.
The O'Learys also have two daughters, Janet (28) and Susan (23).
Mr O'Leary uses a wheelchair, and his mother says that if he could talk or walk, or even watch television, it would be easier both on the family and himself to be cared for at home. But he needs to be occupied at all times during the day.
One centre that caters for adults such as Brian with special needs, the Dun Aoibhinn Centre at Boherduff, Clonmel, is full, with little likelihood of any vacancies in the future.