Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism

Autism Policy and Education: Discussion

Photo of Micheál CarrigyMicheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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Apologies have been received from Deputy Flaherty and Senators Wall and Garvey.

Before we hear from our witnesses, I would like to read some formal notices. The Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl, and the Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, published a Covid-19 code of conduct for the parliamentary community in May. Members, staff and visitors are requested to continue to be vigilant and follow public health advice on preventing the spread of Covid-19 infection so that we can manage the risk for ourselves and for others who are more vulnerable, including colleagues and their family members who may be elderly and-or have underlying health conditions. All members of the parliamentary community and visitors are strongly encouraged to wear face masks – not visors – in busy or crowded locations in the Leinster House complex. Medical grade FFP2 masks should be worn whenever recommended by the public health advice and should be worn for ten days after diagnosis of Covid-19. This will help to reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading among the parliamentary community. I ask for everyone's full co-operation in this.

I remind members of the constitutional requirement that they must be physically present within the confines of the place where Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House, in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where he or she is not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, any member who attempts to participate from outside the parliamentary precincts will be asked to leave.

For the information of the witnesses, I wish to explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege and the practice of the Houses as regards references they may make to other persons in their evidence. The evidence of witnesses physically present or who give evidence from within the parliamentary precincts is protected, pursuant to the Constitution and statute, by absolute privilege. They are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of that person or entity. Therefore, if witnesses' statements are potentially defamatory of an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that they comply with any such direction.

I welcome everyone to the first public meeting of the Joint Committee on Autism. Before we hear from our witnesses, I wish to make a few introductory remarks. Following debates in the Dáil and Seanad, this committee was established earlier this year with support from across both Houses to consider matters relating to services and supports provided by the State for autistic people. As legislators, we must ensure that all Departments and agencies shape their policies and strategies with the aim of creating a more autism-inclusive and neurodiverse-friendly society. For the past two months, we have been meeting in private session to identify the key policy areas where we can make valuable recommendations in our final report and to prepare our work programme. Over the next nine months, the committee will sit in public and hear from the key stakeholders as we examine policy, the implementation of policy and the legislation relevant to autistic people. We look forward to hearing from autistic people, their friends, their families and their representative bodies as well as Ministers, Departments, Government agencies, trade unions and other stakeholders to assess the current state of services for autistic people, the barriers that they can face when dealing with the State and how we can make improvements in those areas. The committee is also interested in international good practice in national autism strategies.

Our first meeting is with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to discuss autism policy and education. We look forward to a wide-ranging discussion with Mr. John Kearney, its CEO, and his colleagues.

In the coming weeks, we are planning to hold meetings on autism policy with the Minister of State at the Department of Education with responsibility for special education and inclusion, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Department of Health with responsibility for disability, Deputy Rabbitte. Before the summer recess, we also plan to meet the Teaching Council of Ireland, trade unions like the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, and the Teachers' Union of Ireland, TUI, and Mr. Adam Harris, CEO of the advocacy group, AsIAm. We will meet many more stakeholders after the summer recess. Later in the year, we will examine other issues - assessments of need; access to assessments and interventions; education, including the limited effectiveness of special classes in promoting full inclusion; the lack of employment, or the high percentage of underemployment, of people with autism; adults' access to diagnoses and the implications of same; public buildings and the need for autism-friendly buildings; and the relevant legislation. The committee hopes that Leinster House can be made an autism-friendly building just like the parliamentary buildings at Stormont. In that context, we have written to the Ceann Comhairle and the Cathaoirleach to request that this be done.

There is a body of work to do on generating more awareness of hidden disabilities like autism and on fostering a culture of acceptance, understanding and inclusion in society. The committee plans to report to the Houses by the end of March 2023, in time for World Autism Day on 2 April, with recommendations for policy changes for children and their families. These recommendations will be fed into the new autism innovation strategy, which is in line with a commitment in the programme for Government and is being developed by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

As no members wish to comment before we start, we will move on to the first business on our agenda, namely, the minutes of our previous meetings. Are the minutes of the private meetings held on 7 April, 5 May, 17 May, 19 May and 2 June agreed? Agreed.

On behalf of the committee, I extend a warm welcome to representatives from the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, namely, Mr. John Kearney, chief executive officer, Ms Paula

Prendeville, policy and practice principal officer and Ms Mary McGrath, operations principal officer.

Before we hear from our witnesses, I propose that we publish their opening statements on the Oireachtas website. Is that agreed? Agreed. I suggest that Mr. Kearney make his opening statement in the region of ten minutes. We will then have questions and comments from members. Each member will have ten minutes and I will be strict on that time to keep the meeting within the specified two hours. Hopefully, members will get an opportunity to come back in again afterwards. I invite Mr. Kearney to make his opening statement.