Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy takes liberties. There are a couple of comments on the opening statement from Dr. Roddy. I am a former student of the old Sligo RTC which I attended many years ago. The conclusion that society can only benefit both socially and economically by valuing autistic individuals and their families and allowing them the opportunity to reach their true potential and participate in society is the core of where we all want to get to. I am delighted that a student of Atlantic Technological University, ATU, sat in the very chair there about six weeks ago; I refer to Fiacre Ryan who has started a course in ATU. That goes to show the amount of work the ATU has been doing first of all but also that there is a place there for Fiacre to express his abilities and show what he can do. There is an issue in general across the universities. I was on the Technological University of the Shannon, TUS, Athlone campus last week to meet the staff there from both the Limerick and Athlone campuses and see the work they have been doing with the funding that has been provided by the Department of Further and Higher Eduction, Research, Innovation and Science such as the quiet spaces, the support for students. However, more is needed. I am sure Dr. Roddy would say the same about ATU. We need more funding to put in place those supports for autistic students or students with a disability but also to expand on supports for those students to find employment afterwards. Deputy Ó Murchú or Deputy Buckley mentioned Trinity College Dublin, TCD. We had Dr. Michael Shevlin and Mr. Hugo MacNeill here about a programme in TCD where they have 40 companies providing employment for those students. That is something I would love to see expanded across all the universities and TUs. I would like to have that sort of programme throughout the country and the funding for staff and people within the universities to be able to support that programme. That needs to be highlighted. We might look at that with the technological universities and what funding is needed going forward.

There seems to be an increase in the number of students with autism yet the funding appears to be going in the other direction. If we are to put those supports in place, we need to address that.

There is a need for a co-ordinated plan to address the needs across all sectors of society. It is to be hoped that the committee's proposals will cover all those areas and not just specifically education and health. We are meeting people from various sectors to try to put forward positive proposals that will make whole-of-life changes for families. The core of those proposals will be based on lived experience, meeting families, and talking to families and groups that represent people. We are in the middle of organising a family day in the Seanad, hopefully to take place in late February, when we will allow more of an opportunity for families throughout the country to come to Leinster House to put forward their views on what changes they want to see made. That will be at the core of this committee's proposals.

Ms McDonagh mentioned non-speaking autistic persons in particular. I mentioned Fiacre Ryan earlier. The RPM method was used to allow him to communicate. All of us found it fantastic to see how someone who did not have a way of communicating was able to use this method, which, for some reason, is not being supported by the Department with responsibility for special education or, indeed, the union that represents speech and language therapists, despite it being shown to work. What are the representatives' views on that method?

The witnesses mentioned changing the EPSEN Act to an inclusive education Act. That would be very positive because it really sets out what it is. If asked, the vast majority of people do not know what the EPSEN Act is. An "inclusive education Act" is self-explanatory. That would be something positive that the committee could look at putting forward. There is nothing special about access; it is a right. That is at the core of it. That is in the proclamation people read on the doorway when they come to Leinster House. It states that we must cherish "all the children of the nation equally". That was in 1916. Are we doing that in 2023? I do not think we are but that is where we need to get to, through putting those supports in place.

On teacher training and SNAs, a PhD is being written on having a template for all special schools, and schools throughout the country, for special classes and how they are administered. The reality is they are not all being done the same. It all depends on how the principal works with such classes. We have heard stories of teachers coming straight out of teacher training college with absolutely no experience in special education being put into a newly opened special class. That is not acceptable. One of the recommendations in our report with regard to the summer programme is that all teachers in teacher training should take a module in special education during their course and must work in a summer programme prior to qualifying. Teachers should all have the experience of working with children with needs in order that if they go into the classroom, they at least have that experience so we do not have that situation happening again.

A proposal with regard to upskilling and training of SNAs was put to me by people in a number of schools I visited during the Christmas break. What are the representatives' views on more courses being put on for SNAs? We met people from the Middletown Centre for Autism where there is European-wide best practice. Maybe we should ask them to put on further courses for our SNAs to upskill them. That course time could be taken out of the hours outlined in the Croke Park agreement to allow SNAs to take those courses.

Another issue that was brought to my attention relates to teachers of special classes. Similar to mainstream teachers, there is no cover for early professional development, EPD, training days or a family emergency for which they have to take time off. The class has to be covered by another teacher.

Such cover has worked within the mainstream but has proved to be an issue with special classes. If that happens with the main teacher of a special class, there should be cover for a full teacher for that day. That is something that needs to be looked at.

What are the representatives' views on the rapid prompting method? It was spoken about on a number of occasions at meetings of this committee. I have hit on a lot of points. I am not asking any specific questions but for the witnesses' views on the points I made.