Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Taking on board what Mr. O'Connor said on acknowledging everybody's role, perhaps this committee will have an opportunity to make recommendations as to the future of services. Perhaps we could all think a bit more about future plans or things we ought to include. Some of the criticisms made could have been avoided if a forum and statutory consultation were in place. I am aware that one cannot do it every day of the week but it could happen for major policy initiatives.

I wish to raise some other issues and to support what other members have said. I have a constituent who has three children each of whom has a diagnosis of autism. Pre-Covid-19 they would have had 120 hours, which is what they had last year, but this year they are getting 100 hours. This is a significant disadvantage to those children. One of the children attends an Irish language school and needs the additional support. Normally, children would come from a primary school with this diagnosis, and pre-Covid-19 they would have had the normal integration programme with much new learning to be done. There is a huge lacuna this year, notwithstanding the good things that are being done, where a family such as this are being cut by 20 hours and they cannot get the service they need. This is a huge issue. There is also the issue of paying for a tutor. The mother wants to make the arrangement as she did last year but she does not have a guarantee of the income.

The second case I want to make is for a child who needs to attend a special school in Drumcar, the parent lives in Drogheda and the family do not have a car and do not have access to public transport. Their needs are met, if they can afford it, with a taxi costing €35 each way. This family would have to pay €70 per day to get their child to that service. They are told they can be recompensed at the end of that period - in other words, come August they will get back the €1,400 they had paid. They cannot, however, afford to pay. There is a huge issue where parents cannot provide the transport and cannot afford to pay for it and, therefore, cannot take up the place. I know Mr. O'Connor is aware of the special school, St. Mary's in Drumcar. This is a huge disadvantage for some families.

On the rights of these children, will Mr. O'Connor please articulate what this committee should recommend in additional supports and rights? These rights should be there automatically and the families should not have to beg or fight for them. The rights should be there by fact and by definition.