Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Morgan for his opening statement. I want to address the inconsistencies across the country. Being from the western region, I am interested in what is, or is not, happening there, particularly in terms of front-line staff. I welcome the standard operating procedure. It is very necessary. It is alarming to hear that parents were not involved in it. It is indicative of how the process works in terms of parents not being allowed to be involved. I commend all the parents who, despite everything they have to deal with, have come forward and are very strong advocates for the services. Other parents benefit from that. Parents must be listened to but that is not happening.

I have some questions on the figures relating to the assessments. In 2017, there were 5,814 applications for assessment and 3,660 were completed. This means that over 2,000 assessments were not completed? What happened or is happening in respect of those children? Why are the models of best practice not replicated throughout the country? Is it purely a question of resources? What is the interaction between the autism services and the mental health services? Many children and young adults, because they have not received early interventions, reach a crisis point where they may have psychotic episodes. My experience is their being told by the HSE to go home, hide the knives and sharp objects and make sure the doors are locked at night and that it will let the Garda know if officers should respond to a call to attend at the person's house. Surely to God, the HSE has more of a responsibility than to leave these parents and families in such a vulnerable state. It is wrong for a young child, as a result of a condition that dictates his or her behaviour, to end up in a Garda cell and over-medicated. It is intentionally criminalising young people with the condition of autism. This is wrong and it has to be stopped. I am not assured that the things being put in place now will address it. There are young people and children falling between the disability services and the mental health services and nobody is taking responsibility. It should not end up with gardaí who do not have the necessary expertise.

How many people with expertise in dealing with autism are employed by the HSE? Speech and language therapists who do not have expertise in autism are trying to cope with impossible caseloads in order to deal with the condition of autism when they are not equipped to do that. Those are some of the issues I would like the witnesses to address.