Lobby groups for people with intellectual disabilities are planning to boycott the Taoiseach's launch of the European Year of Disabled Persons next Tuesday.
The National Association of Mental Health Ireland (Namhi), the National Parents and Siblings Alliance and the Irish Autism Alliance have decided to boycott the launch "to highlight the crisis" created by cutbacks in funding for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The three associations are claiming a crisis has arisen as a direct consequence of Budget 2003 which "failed to allocate any money whatsoever for new residential, day or respite places". Parents of children finishing secondary school this year have already been advised by service providers that due to a lack of funding, there can be no guaranteed places for young adults next September.
"School leavers will now have to sit at home until something turns up" said Ms Deirdre Carroll of Namhi.
Children with intellectual disabilities normally begin vocational State-run programmes after school but with €13.3 million to be divided between ten health boards, no new places will be allocated this year. "This is a national issue, there are between 10 and 20 new people in each health board area each year who apply for places, that's a few hundred per year nationwide," Ms Carroll said.
The associations are looking for "at least €20 million" to "deal with current issues" according to Namhi.
The cutbacks have also affected emergency situations which occur as elderly parents can no longer cope or die.
Ms Carroll quoted one such case recently where a woman with intellectual disabilities went to St. Ita's Mental Hospital.
"It's very distressing for families that this is all that can be offered to them" she added.