Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to Deputy Murphy O'Mahony for giving me a minute and to Deputy Donnelly for allowing me in. I have a nephew-in-law and a grand-niece who suffer from or are affected by from autism. As a family, we live with it. When we debate motions of this nature, it is very important that we give time to the people who live with it. That is why I am most grateful to the Deputies I have mentioned.

I will keep this brief because if I go on too long, some of my colleagues will not get in. Callum and Emma are two beautiful people who are part of our family. I salute all the parents and other family members who are in the Gallery tonight. The parents of Callum and Emma are fantastic, particularly their mothers. They deal with this issue 24-7 - morning, noon and night. Until and unless one lives with it and sees it happening in one's own family, one does not really realise it. No matter what one reads in motions or elsewhere, one has to see it happening in front of one's own two eyes.

I would like to make four brief points. First, in some parts of this country, services for adults with autism are almost non-existent. Second, in many parts of the country, very limited summer provision is offered to primary or secondary school students when they come out of school for the summer. Third, we should encourage school boards to have among their members the parents of autistic children. Fourth, there is a serious lack of support for autistic people when they leave school.

There are many things we must change. I fully commend this motion. Like many people, I got a message on Facebook yesterday morning from a mother who runs the My Boy Blue page. It is shocking and disgraceful that she has had to go to court to fight for her son's educational rights. It should not be happening. We should think of her family and all the other families that have been placed in this position. I commend the motion and I support it. I am glad that Deputies on this side of the House will support it. There should be no vote on this motion. It should be unanimously agreed by everybody.

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