Parents with learning disabilities are up to 50 times more likely to have their children removed and placed in care than other parents according to a new study.
The review of supports available to people with an intellectual disability who are experiencing a crisis pregnancy was published today by the HSE's Crisis Pregnancy Programme in conjunction with the National Disability Authority.
There are 50,400 people diagnosed with an intellectual disability living in Ireland, 40 per cent of whom are women.
The review recommended the use of specially tailored materials and accessible services to help women understand the implications of pregnancy and parenthood as well as running training programmes to teach basic skills such as money management, health and safety. and behaviour management.
It found people with intellectual disability are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse and that the provision of sex education to people with disabilities was poor. Properly tailored services and support would increase their ability to make healthcare decisions, improve their sexual knowledge and manage relationships, it said.
The report recommended that sex education should be provided at an appropriate level over a long period and with one-to one follow up. It stressed the importance of addressing the issues of power and exploitation in sexual relationships.
While the report acknowledged that protective legislation in Ireland aimed to provide protection from abuse and was based on the assumption that people with intellectual disability lack capacity to consent to sex, it said this could be at odds with other rights-based legislation and could curtail a person's right to be sexually active.
It said legislation framed within a functional approach, such as in England and Wales, had more to recommend it as it attempted to set down criteria by which a person with intellectual disability could be deemed as capable of consenting to sex.