Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I have been going through Mr. O'Regan's opening statement and there are three points that I want to pick out. I welcome the development of the online knowledge hub and "providing contemporary information in relation to services, resources, and signposting to other essential community and statutory based supports and services". It is grand to be told where to go but the biggest problem we have is accessing the services. The big bugbear I hear about is the AON, which is a huge one. The waiting lists for this are growing every day. I spoke to a family yesterday, including a 14-year-old boy who is in school. The school has been extremely supportive. The boy has a lot of issues and learning difficulties and he finds it successful when he is using the laptop but he is on a two-year waiting list to get the assessment. While the school is supporting him with a laptop, because he cannot get the AON to say he needs it, the HSE and the Department of Education cannot approve the laptop and, therefore, that laptop will be taken off that child before he goes to do his exam in June. That is causing immense stress for the individual and the family because that child's mother is now the teacher. I have had numerous cases like this, and I have been lucky that the individual who helps me with this goes to the High Court to push for the AONs. We are in 2022 and this should not be happening. The statement says the services should be family- and person-centred and that if there are specific cases they should be dealt with but is there any other avenue where the likes of I and others can go when there is an urgency? They are probably all urgent cases and that is where the crux of the issue is. What can we do and what do you say to a family in this situation? This is probably one of the least complicated cases I have come across when it comes to autism.