Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the suggestions made but there is also a role here for the Department of Education. I have discussed this matter with my colleague Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. We all have this in our own areas. Children are being transported because there are not autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes or units in a locality. Alternatively, there may be a mismatch between the placement of children from one locality with facilities that are in another. I believe the Department of Education has an even greater role in this than the HSE. For this reason, I would like the Department of Education to be consulted as well so it can respond to the use of this public money by the HSE, albeit as a result of the way the Department administers education.