Inclusion Ireland

In mid-March Disability day services closed to people with intellectual disabilities with a small number of exceptions. In May and early June, Inclusion Ireland surveyed the people who use these services and their families on the impact the closure of service has had on them and the supports they have received in this time. In total, 291 family members answered our survey and 55 people with intellectual disabilities responded to an easy-to-read version of our survey giving a total response of 346.

In March 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of the new Coronavirus, or COVID19, as a pandemic, due to its rapid spread around the globe. Ireland, along with other countries around the world, is taking action and putting in place plans to curtail the COVID-19 virus. However, people with intellectual disabilities are a group at a significantly higher risk than others.