The numbers of people with intellectual disabilities and autism waiting for respite and residential services has grown steadily since 2003 despite the publication of the national disability strategy and the introduction of the Disability Act 2005, according to the National Parents' & Siblings' Alliance (NPSA).
The organisation, set up in 1998 to represent parents, siblings and carers of people with intellectual disabilities and autism, said the increase in waiting lists for residential and respite services was worrying.
Some 1,893 people were waiting for residential services in 2004, this rose to 2,118 in 2006, the group said, and those waiting for respite services rose from 1,144 in 2003 to 1,954 in 2006.
The NPSA has called for a single unifying plan to address how services for people with intellectual disabilities and autism should be addressed.
Séamus Greene, national director of the group and father of a 32-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, said the pressure on people and their families on the list is intense. "In many cases we are talking about people who aren't young, they could be quite likely in their 70s or into their 80s, and the effect for them can be devastating," he said.
"Most parents don't want to put their children, who may be in their 50s at this stage, into residential care. So when the time comes to go on a waiting list, it's because they absolutely need it and they can't cope otherwise."
He said the Government has provided minimal resources to tackle the existing problems that people with intellectual disability and autism face.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said they were examining the issues in relation to respite and residential care.
Meanwhile, PD Senator John Minihan has called on the Minister for Education to clearly outline her department's approach to the provision of education for children with autism.
"The type of education provided to children with autism has to be based on professional assessment not only of the child but also of the most suitable type of education for the child," he said.
