Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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I am in Leinster House. I thank the Minister of State very much for coming in again. It is always great to get a Minister of State who is willing to come in and stand over her words. I am coming from a place of slight frustration but obviously I am not as frustrated as some of the parents. We are here to talk about the unmet needs of children. I accept that there are significant overlaps with child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, schools and various Departments. As we all know, the unmet needs of children continue beyond the assessment. I am dealing with parents who have been asked by the school to pay for the occupational therapist for their child with special needs.

I was talking to a parent whose school rescinded the placement because the school did not have a special needs assistant. The school took away the placement for the child. There is a lack of school transportation for children with special needs who are in inappropriate placements and are put onto short hours. They can lose transportation because of that. The issue of school transport and short hours are broader. What is happening between the Minister of State and the other Departments? The Minister of State spoke of the other Departments. How do we ensure there is joined-up thinking?

Deputy Crowe mentioned child and adolescent mental health services. I am conscious of the warning from the Chair about defamation. I do not think I will say anything about CAMHS because my opinion of the services in this country is incredibly low. My experience of dealing with the service is poor. One point that comes to mind is the national review panel from Tusla. The panel reviews deaths of children and frequently calls out CAMHS and its inability to provide basic psychotherapeutic services. I will leave that for the minute.

The unmet needs are obviously beyond the Department. Can the Minister of State give an idea of how all these Departments are working together? The Dublin 12 autism group has told me it has written to the Minister's office several times looking for a meeting. Would the Minister of State be able to arrange a meeting with the group as soon as possible?