Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for attending and for their advocacy, not only for families with autism but also to assist us as politicians.

As a member of a Government party, I note that we are regularly told we are now spending a quarter of the education budget on special education and that money is not the problem. However, when we listen to people such as the witnesses, it is clear that it is not working. We are either wasting an awful lot of money or not listening so it is very important that the witnesses are here. I will echo Senator Flynn in hoping that the Department officials are listening in and will see the great disconnect in this service. It is fortunate we have this committee. It has given a voice to many of the groups. However, I really hope the end result is much more than a committee report and that there will be real and effective change. The problem with autism is that it is generational. There is no point in saying we will see the benefits of the organisations' advocacy and of this committee's work in 25 years' time. We really need to see it a lot sooner.

I will address the representatives of the Cavan group because they are my nearest neighbours. I was really struck by some lines in their written statement which read:

Every child has the right to an education [...] But without regular occupational and speech and language therapy, how can our children be comfortable in their classroom? How can they learn how to cope with the overwhelming or indeed insufficient sensory stimuli at school?

Has Cavan Autism Parents Support, CAPS, found resistance from schools? My view is that there should be special education classes in every school. Special education has to be visible. Your peers, your brothers and your sisters have to see it. It needs to be part of a class. As a society, we need to go on a journey with special education. Is CAPS seeing resistance? I know the witnesses can speak only on their experience locally.