Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

When I was 23 years old I broke my back - I snapped my coccyx clean off. I was out of work for quite a while and I was in a lot of pain. One day I had to get a form from the Department of Social Welfare in Summerhill. As I did not have the money for a taxi, I walked there and the journey that would have taken me ten minutes normally took an hour. By the time I got there I was in agony. I said to the guy behind the counter that "I need this form" and he said: "that is fine; we give out the forms between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m; come back tomorrow and you can have one". I said: "do you have them there" to which he replied "yes" and put his finger on a pile of them and said: "This is them." I explained to him that I had just walked there with a fractured spine, that it would take me an hour to walk home, another hour to walk back and the same again tomorrow. I asked him would he please just give me one of the forms. He said he would between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. the next day. I walked out onto the street, rang the Department and spoke to a very nice lady who said she was appalled. She said: "I will ring him; go back inside and get the form." I went back inside and said: "Did somebody call you?" to which he replied "Yes". I said: "did they tell you to give me the form" to which he replied "Yes". I said "can I have the form?" and he said: "you can - tomorrow, between and 10 a.m. and 12 a.m." The pain that I was in for both journeys had me in bed for about two weeks.

Yesterday evening we heard from four mothers who have children with special needs. What struck me was the parallel in dealing with the system. When people are in pain like I was, or exhausted like they are, or broke like so many people are dealing with the system, they are disempowered and vulnerable and need the system to work for them. The system is not charity. It is an insurance policy into which every single one of us pays. It is our right, and it is our right to be treated with dignity.

What was clear to me last night from those parents and from the parents I have met during the past year is that they are not being treated with dignity. They are not being treated with respect and the system is not working for them. One parent spoke of an ongoing battle with a community or public health nurse who refused to recognise that her child was autistic. Several years later a new health nurse arrived and instantly agreed that the child was autistic and after years the parent got the support she had needed right from the start.

We heard another example of identical twins born with the same condition. For some administrative reason, one child went through the HSE and the other child went through the Department of Social Welfare. The HSE said that the child had a problem and gave the parent a package of support but the Department said that the other child did not have any problem and that the parent was not getting any support.

The Minister took exception to members of the Technical Group criticising officials in the Department. Deputy English said here a few minutes ago that it is not their fault. It is their fault. It is the fault of the people who work in the Department. The 52% appeal ratio is their fault. The ridiculous decisions that are being made are their fault. In the case of the mother who was asked by an official if her child still had autism, that is the fault of the officials. We should not shy away from criticising them when they fail in their duty.

I imagine the officials were involved in drafting, with respect, the drivel that is the Government's counter amendment. The Members opposite should read it. It says everything is fine, look at all the good work we have done and that there will be a review. Not a single word in the Government amendment recognises the difficulties with which the parents of these children are dealing. It is not acceptable. We in opposition cannot hold these officials to account but were I the Minister, I would be asking a number of questions. Why do some health professionals or officials give different diagnoses to the same children? Why do identical twins get different diagnoses from different State departments? What audit system is in place? What management information system is in place? How are these officials being held to account for their decisions? The Technical Group's motion does not ask for extra money; it asks, on behalf of the children and their parents, for a process which is fair, transparent, quick and which treats them with dignity.

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