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

I am of that opinion as well. It is also about accessing treatment and therapies. The support for school provision is one element. We are making reforms on that. There needs to be much more joined-up thinking on special education between the Department of Education and the HSE. The reports about treatment and therapies are even more dire. People are often being told that the allocation for their child for this year has been used up by the assessment process and there are no hours left for them to access treatment and therapies. People are often handed a technical diagnosis on a piece of paper. They really do not have the ability to understand what that actually means for their child. They are not presented with any treatment plan. There is no roadmap and no connection. Parents are told their child has been diagnosed, linked in with the school and told they will get supports in the school. There is absolutely no connectivity for the parents. Parents are handed a diagnosis by a clinical person, and there are no wraparound supports.