Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing my time with Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan. I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I thank my colleague, Deputy Michael McCarthy, and commend him on bringing this legislation before the House. We have many political differences but when a Bill is sensible and bears up to independent scrutiny, we should support it. I welcome the Bill and will support it. I welcome the opportunity to discuss autism. There is an urgent need for reform and, more important, for all children and adults with autism to benefit from action on the ground and fair treatment.

As a parent of a daughter with an intellectual disability, Down's syndrome, it always gets up my nose that historically we have had to fight, protest, kick up, scream and shout to obtain services for children with disabilities. We must get away from this and the Government will have to realise that parents of all children with disabilities, in this case autism, have rights. We, too, pay our taxes and have the right to services. We must return to focusing on the rights of people with disabilities, including autism. That is my bottom line. I hope this Bill moves this process forward. Examining it, I believe it will.

I urge the Government and all Deputies to move away from the charity syndrome in regard to people with disabilities. We are talking about creating a new Ireland, a new republic, an inclusive democratic republic that respects all people, including minorities and those with disabilities. Many families say privately, but not publicly, that it gets up their noses when we talk about services with a charity mentality. I refer to the holding-out-the-box syndrome. We go to work and pay our taxes. We pay our VAT and the additional €1 in excise duty imposed recently after the budget. The latter measure brought in extra revenue. Since we pay our taxes, we should be entitled to services. Damn your charity; all we want is justice and equality. Children and adults with autism should be at the top of the political agenda for change and an inclusive society.

If the Government does not do that, and if we are not sincere, this debate today in the Dáil is more hot air.

It is really tough to be a parent of a child with an intellectual disability or any other type of disability. First, one must deal with the shock and the reality, and then, when one settles down, one must deal with the services issue. Parents do not have the time and energy to fight and protest, and the challenge in this Bill is whether those regular battles will decrease. It is important that we say so, particularly on behalf of the families of children with autism.

Many of my friends and election workers have children and adults with autism. It is extremely difficult for the families and they do not have time for getting into big rows with people and politicians and protesting outside the Dáil. They have enough in their lives to get on with. What I am saying today to the Government and to Deputy McCarthy is let us work together. If we agree on this process, which we seem to do, let us push this issue into mainstream society and let us develop services for adults, in this case those with autism. I hope and pray that as we near the end of the crisis for children with autism, something will happen on this issue as well.

Autism is a condition which is characterised by severe communication and behaviour problems. These problems result in an inability to relate to people in a socially acceptable manner. Autism seems to appear more frequently in males than in females and affects approximately 15 out of every 10,000 children. The first signs of autism are noticeable before the age of three. Often children with autism become confused about the world, which causes anxiety and results in inappropriate behaviour and tempers. As a result, children cling to routine and become attached to certain toys or objects.

We must look at the modern progression in education as well. It is important that we be supportive of the applied behavioural analysis, ABA, system. If we are talking about ensuring that adults develop under this legislation, we must set the ground work. I urge the Minister to be supportive of the ABA system. This is a system of treatment based on behaviourist theories which state that behaviours can be taught through a system of rewards and consequences. ABA is child-centred and highly individualised, starting with an assessment of an individual's skills and the development of learning objectives. By observing a person's behaviour and collecting objective data, behaviour analysts are able to monitor progress and adjust interventions on a daily basis. ABA is the only approach with substantial documented evidence of its effectiveness for learners with autism. Let us sow the seeds early on as well. We need to support these people because if one gets in early, by the time they reach the adult stage they can have made much progress.

We must be sensitive as well. There is no point in coming in here and presenting a wonderful Bill while at the same time the Government is cutting the respite care grant for parents. That is not good enough. It is also not good enough for any Member to get up here in the House and state that there must be more services for children and adults with autism. We must have them, but we must also be equally sensible and state that there is an economic downturn and a crisis here, and ask how will we fund them. I noted the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, at the Select Sub-Committee on Finance, spoke about the €1 on a bottle of wine that was introduced in the budget. I remember many Members jumping up and down about it but I was not one because I thought it was a good idea. However, I was amazed at the amount of extra revenue the provision has brought in. The Minister was talking about a figure of €180 million in excise from alcohol after the budget. As the Minister, Deputy Reilly, will recall from a Government point of view, often we have come in here kicking and screaming following the withdrawal of funding of €30 million here or €20 million there. There is no reason for the Government to panic when it is looking to fund services when the Minister for Finance states he has been pleasantly surprised at some of the taxation raising measures. Let us look at those and let us not be afraid to say that as well. I raise that because many of the whingers and moaners on all sides of the House, particularly Government in this case, often ask, "Where will you get the revenue?" That is the bottom line.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide for an autism strategy to create a coherent and national framework for addressing the specific needs of adults with autism. As my colleagues mentioned earlier, similar legislation has been enacted in the North and in England.

Section 1 amends the definition of "disability" in the Employment Equality Act 1998 to include reference to autism and section 2 makes similar provision in the Equal Status Act 2000. I welcome that. Section 3 creates an obligation to produce an autism strategy while section 4 sets out a duty to implement that strategy. Sections 3 and 4 are important. It is all very well to have a strategy but one must implement it as well. Sections 3 and 4 of the Bill give it a bit of teeth.

My one concern is that while the implementation of the Bill would involve some administrative cost, the positive duties to implement the strategy are intended to be carried out within existing resources. It goes back to my point about raising revenue for services. The Government will not be able to do it within existing resources. Let us be honest about it. The Ministers for Health and Finance would tell Deputy McCarthy that as well. We must agree the legislation - there seems a very positive reception for Deputy McCarthy's Bill - but also ensure that there is the funding to back up and resource it. I want to ensure that, after the discussion here today, the families of young adults with autism have a service for life with which they will be happy. There are many examples of good practice in the health services. We all have a go at the Minister, Deputy Reilly, every now and again, but, as he will be aware, there are excellent examples of good practice in the disability sector in Ireland. We have potential there to develop services that will match the needs of the young adults with autism and also the families.

I warmly welcome the legislation. I welcome the fact that we are discussing autism and we are trying to make this a priority. I thank Deputy McCarthy for bringing the Bill before the House.

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