Stormont's Economy Minister Conor Murphy says young people in Northern Ireland with special educational needs (SEN) face an "educational cliff-edge" when they leave school.
Mr Murphy was speaking at an event at Stormont organised by a Lisburn mum campaigning for special educational needs provision for adults.
Caleb's Cause NI is seeking new legislation for post-19 SEN Northern Ireland including new care packages for young SEN adults over 19 years of age.
READ MORE: NI mum steps up Caleb’s Cause campaign for post-19 SEN reform
The campaign was established earlier this year by mum-of-three Alma White, whose teenage son Caleb has complex special needs.
Alma's groundbreaking campaign for her son and many others is calling on Stormont to introduce Post-19 legislation for all young people with additional needs here in Northern Ireland.
Here, a statement of educational needs stops at 19 year of age and there is nothing to replace it unlike other parts of the UK.
Having already garnered widespread political support across Stormont's political parties and several local councils for her campaign, Alma and other parents of children with SEN hosted a Hear Our Voices event at Stormont this week.
First Minister Michelle O'Neill, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, Education Minister Paul Givan along with fellow MLAs also attended the event at Stormont to meet parents.
There they heard calls for a change in the law to ensure support for further education, training and employment is in place for all young people with SEN when they leave school and testimonies from some of those impacted.
Economy Minister Conor Murphy is taking the lead on the departmental collaboration in a bid to address the need for continued SEN provision for young people. A task force had been set up in the Department for the Economy (DfE) to look at options for change.
Mr Murphy said it was important to highlight the "educational cliff-edge faced by people with special educational needs once they leave school".
He added: "This is an injustice for young people who are 19+ with special educational needs. We have a responsibility, not just in my department, but across the departments to try and address that. We have put it in our business plan for the department and it's now in the programme for government."
Speaking afterwards, Alma said: "It was great to see a public declaration of support from the Northern Ireland Executive and our MLAs and thank you for coming to our event and standing with us. Now we urge that legislation be implemented in this mandate to underpin services for young people with disabilities.
"Leaving school at 19 having been in a nurturing environment, there has to be equitable provision and when the blips occur legislation to provide a legal framework for continued support. Our young people matter and they deserve the opportunity to lead a fulfilling life."
See our photo gallery below of the Hear Our Voices event at Stormont this week.
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