Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being here. I want to make a couple of observations first. This committee has engaged with a lot of different stakeholders and has learned that investment in teacher training is absolutely vital. The Minister mentioned the reinstatement of therapists in special schools but at present we are having difficulties with retaining and even finding therapists. Is it time to think outside the box and take a different approach to recruiting these specialists? That said, even in the short time that this committee has been operating, a lot of work has been done on this issue, with some positive results.

As the Minister said, the numbers are rising. The Minister and the Department have put a lot of investment into new schools. I will always give credit where it is due and that has to be acknowledged. These facilities were needed and it is great to see them. One of the big bugbears of this committee is school transport, which is a major issue for children with autism. There is a particular difficulty for children transitioning from primary to secondary school. To give an example, Cobh in east Cork has 30 to 35 students going to Carrigtwohill but there is no bus available because the school is outside the catchment area. There are two schools in Cobh but the students cannot get into them because they are full. I just wanted to flag that with the Minister.

This committee has done an awful lot of work on summer provision. We are not here to put people's back against the wall in relation to the summer programme but to highlight the fact that the summer programmes are absolutely vital to everyone involved, including service users and their families.. I saw first-hand how beneficial the programmes can be for service providers too when my own children volunteered a few years ago to work with people with autism. They got a better understanding of autism. Investing locally in the people who need support is so important. We are duty bound to do our utmost to support the summer programmes. I appeal to the Minister to work with us so that there is full buy-in, with support from the Department in terms of assisting the teachers and other staff involved in summer programmes.