Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I appreciate Sinn Féin tabling this motion because it is timely. If it were to be tabled next week or the following week, it would be equally timely. No matter how many times we debate this issue there appears to be no great urgency on the part of the Government to put in place the supports necessary to help children and their parents. No matter what report is put in place and no matter how many times we debate the issue we are constantly playing catch-up.

I attended a St. Valentine's ball recently which was a fundraising event for a school for children with autism. Apart from me and the person who accompanied me, everyone else at our table was the parent of a child with autism. Some were not just autistic. One couple had a child who was autistic but was blind and profoundly deaf. We have no concept of what it is like to deal with that situation. Neither have we any concept of what it was like for them to go out for the night to support the school that is doing so much for their child. The mother told me she had to fight like an alley catto have the child diagnosed. One must also fight to get one-to-one tuition. When that is available the child is expected to go to school and the complications that causes are enormous. That is the reason it is necessary to start at the beginning with preschool for children with autism, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Asperger's syndrome and so on. Pre-school is necessary to prepare them for a school setting to ensure they are not taken from the security of their home and put into a school setting which can be disturbing for them and upsetting for their parents.

On Valentine's night we attended a fundraising ball. One may ask why one was present. We were there because the school is running out of money. It is incredible the Government does not realise that early intervention in special education is very important and the difference it could make not only to parents but also to children and eventually the State and society. I have seen the difference that can be made following diagnosis and intervention at an early age.

How are children diagnosed? Does one's friend suggest that something may be wrong and that, perhaps, one should take the child to a specialist? Is it the health nurse when one goes back for the 18-month check up, the preschool teacher, the grandparent, or the teacher in first class at primary school? Where is the net through which no child is supposed to fall through? Where is the desire to ensure children have the early diagnosis and intervention that is so important? It simply does not exist. This is done on the basis of a nod and a wink and of telephone calls to other parents. There is the frustration of having a child with difficulties and not knowing where to turn. It is an area in which we need to be much more proactive.

I have a submission for a second level school for children with Asperger's syndrome. It is a plea for an essential service. At the other end of the scale are parents trying to set up a pre-school. No child when he or she finishes primary school, even if it is a special needs school, should be told at 11 or 12 years of age that there is nowhere else for him or her to go. While it is expensive, it is no more expensive than other issues factored into the budget every year. Neither is it more expensive than providing public transport because the private sector will not provide it. It is no more expensive than providing free second level education to every child in the State. We must get our heads around this by saying it is simply another service the State must provide. There appears to be a reluctance to go that far. Parents who have enough on their plate have to go out on the streets, go on fundraisers and go fighting when they should be at home doing the things we all do. Any Government which allows this to continue will be judged very harshly.

See this speech in context