Cork parents making a 'FUSS' for children with disabilities this weekend

Cork parents will take to the streets in protest on Saturday, to make a "FUSS" about the “crisis” within Children’s Disability Services.

FUSS (Families Unite for Services and Support) has organised a day of action on Saturday 20th August, with demonstrations set to take place on Grand Parade from 2pm.

This is the third such protest the group of parents and families have staged in Cork, the last being earlier this summer, as they continue to fight for better disability services for their children.

FUSS has highlighted that over 100,00 children are currently on wait lists across the country, including 7,200 children awaiting psychology review and over 13,450 on primary care SLT lists.

“We continue to watch helplessly as our children regress. We look on as they are denied school places unlike their neighbours and friends. They sit in pain in equipment that is too small or unsuitable for their needs. They are slowly disappearing from their communities while their families wait for a lifeline that we are consistently told is coming,” they say.

The group are demanding “urgent action” in addressing personal budgets for personal care, returning therapists to special schools, and ending the practice of families requiring personal loans for vital equipment.

They also demand timelines for when Parents Forums will be implemented, and when the UNCRPD Option Protocol will be ratified.

Saturday’s event is supported by Inclusion Ireland, Family Carers Ireland, AsIam, Opposition TDs and Seanad Members Tom Clonan and Mary Seery Kearney.