Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to discuss this matter. While I will refer to Dublin Central, the issues facing parents of children with special needs who are trying to access the relevant services is not confined to that constituency. I acknowledge the progress that has been made compared with the situation for children with special needs years ago. I also acknowledge those who work with children with special needs, especially in schools. In my experience in schools, I have seen the frustration of staff and parents. They know the needs of the children. They know the services that are needed and which will make a difference. Without the timely and appropriate services that a child requires, the situation worsens, the child regresses, and the needs become greater. Everybody agrees on the need for timely and appropriate services.

I have a particular case which brought all of this to light. I will not use the child's real name. I will call him Tom. He was born in 2005. Some months ago his parents had a feedback meeting with the clinical psychologist concerned. It was confirmed that Tom has autism spectrum disorder. The assessment of need identified what was needed: occupational therapy, OT, psychological services and speech and language services. The parents also received the service agreement, one part of which reads:

Under the Disability Act I am to provide you with a Service Statement specifying the Health Services which will be provided to [the boy in question] to address the needs identified in the Assessment Report. The Service Statement is based on a number of factors including the needs identified in the Assessment Report and the resources available to provide the services required.

Having consulted with you and potential service providers, I regret to inform you that the services outlined in the Assessment Report as required to address the needs identified for [the boy involved] are not available at present.

That is the reality. I also found out that there are no OT services for children over the age of 12 in Dublin Central. There is a waiting list of at least two years for child psychological services, and the waiting list for speech and language services is unknown. The recommendation of the psychologist was for the parents to get private services. The Minister of State can imagine the dilemma. Every parent wants to do the best for his or her child. It is a horrible scenario in which a child will get services if a parent has money but the child will not get those services he or she does not. I know the Minister of State's views on this. A child's special needs should not be dependent on the parents' ability to pay. The service level agreement did say that referrals have been made to the primary care service etc., and provided further information. However, we know the reality of the waiting list for OT, speech and language therapy and psychological services.

I will refer to the situation of another young boy who is ten or 11 years of age and has major behavioural issues. Eventually all the players came together. It was obvious that the needs of the child had to be addressed. Otherwise the situation would worsen considerably. The range of services that came together for this child was amazing. Why do we not have a central point of co-ordination for this? About six services were involved here. At the end of the day the child decided not to pursue services, with the backing of the parent. In this case a service is available but there is no compulsion. I know that to engage we must have the agreement of the individuals involved, but who is going to provide encouragement and support so that the parent and the child will engage? I am not being negative, but I know from my own experience of young people that if the child does not engage, we are storing up problems for the future.

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