Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the proposers of the motion and acknowledge all of those in the Visitors Gallery.

Parents of children with autism are looking for services, not for sympathy. The situation in counties Cork and Kerry, as described, is a national scandal. In my area children are waiting between two and three years for an autism assessment. At the end of it, if they receive a diagnosis, there is still no holy grail. There simply are no services available. Once a child is put on the autism waiting list for an assessment, the HSE completely washes its hands of him or her. There is no longer any early intervention and he or she no longer receives any speech and language therapy or occupational therapy. He or she is on the waiting list of the service provider and the HSE is shot of him or her. That is the reality in counties Cork and Kerry. It is a scandal.

We have made progress in providing ASD units, but we do not have enough special schools. Home tuition is no substitute because there is no social interaction and it is a huge imposition on the entire family in question. Later in life, there are no residential places available. I have raised this as a Topical Issue matter before. It is a scandal, with a never-ending waiting list for residential places. Elderly parents are caring for adult children with profound disabilities, including autism and they do not know what will happen when they pass on because there is no likelihood of obtaining a residential place for them. We are failing them and it is not good enough. All any parent of a child with autism wants is that his or her child can be the best he or she possibly can be. We are not delivering in that regard. Acknowledging this would be a starting point.

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