Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion. I reiterate the crux of the motion, which states that many of the barriers people with autism face are a result of how society responds to those with the condition. We would do well to remind ourselves that our duty as public representatives is to break down those barriers and provide the necessary supports so that anyone, regardless of disability, can participate in daily life to his or her full potential.

I believe the current Government has placed more impediments before people with autism trying to achieve their full potential. The main impediment has been a chronic lack of funding during and since the recession. Legislation and strategies are all well and good but will go nowhere without adequate funding for existing and new supports for people with autism and their families.

I will concentrate my comments on one service that I have been in touch with, a community support service in lnishowen in my constituency of Donegal and one the Government is no stranger to due to the number of times the Department has refused to assist it, despite numerous meetings.

Inishowen Children's Autism Related Education, iCARE, was set up in September 2000 by a small group of visionary parents of children with autism. In 2006, they opened a centre to provide respite care for these children and their families. It is a community-led provider of high-quality personal and social services in Inishowen and its funding mainly comes from the community via various fundraising initiatives. All its services are delivered by volunteers, some casual part-time staff and four Tús childcare workers. However, sourcing funding has been a chronic problem for iCARE and a source of great frustration for all involved with the service provider.

I spoke with Ms Angela Tourish, the chairperson of iCARE, about this ongoing struggle. The group received €36,000 from the HSE last month, despite a costed request for €100,000. This will soon run out, yet demand for its services increases. Eight referrals were made in the past six weeks and, in an ironic twist, most of those children were referred to them informally by the HSE and Tusla.

Last year, the Donegal charity faced closure after it lost out on funding from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability issues, Deputy Finian McGrath, will recall that he had allocated €16 million in funding to 27 projects under the Ability programme, half of which were located in Dublin. Only one service in Donegal received an allocation but that was not to iCARE.

Ms Tourish said something to me that stuck out and represented what the charity is going through. She stated that closure is always around the corner for them. It means they cannot make projections or plans for the future and they are living month by month with this hanging over them. Despite this, they provide vital services with referral from the HSE and Tusla. This is what we force them to do.

Services such as iCARE should not have to live with closure around the corner. iCARE can provide that model of community-led care much needed in Donegal and elsewhere. Community-led services work for children and adults with autism as they provide care within the local area where they can thrive within their own communities.

We also need to consider continuity of care and service provision throughout the life cycle of an individual with autism. First, supports and outlets need to be provided for those aged 18 and over or as soon as they leave school. Second, there continues to be a lack of ASD special class places at second level. These classes do not receive a cent in year-on-year funding while primary schools receive €680 in additional capitation per student per year. This needs to be equalised so that children with autism can have continuity of care and support throughout their lives.

I qualify everything stated in the motion by calling for a commitment from the Government to provide multi-annual State funding to services such as iCARE and to provide an adequate budget for both State and community-led services with the potential for many more services to open up and deliver for people with autism throughout their life cycle and within their own communities. It is vitally important so that the Department starts to support them.

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