Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that what the Minister of State said will come as welcome news to the families that use the Springfield Centre. From personal experience, I can state no parent brings his or her child to that centre for the craic. People go because of established and proven needs. The Minister of State mentioned face-to-face or online meetings. One issue which has cropped up is that of parents being fobbed off with Zoom meetings. If the Minister of State will accept it, I will send her a copy of an email I got from one parent. This parent was fobbed off with a Zoom meeting in respect of sensory processing because he or she had kicked and screamed in frustration to highlight the needs of his or her son. That is insulting to the parents and highly disrespectful to the child, because that child does not have a sensory processing disorder and never did. This was well known and has been flagged.

Another issue which concerns me more in this regard is that the parents involved felt compelled to accept that Zoom meeting for fear of repercussions regarding the provision of further services down the line. The parents had that Zoom meeting, knowing full well it was going to be of zero benefit to their child. That is concerning considering that probably umpteen parents would probably have given their right arms to have that Zoom meeting. When we talk about the provision of services, particularly in this regard, meeting low standards is not something to be proud of.

These children, families and groups are our neighbours. They are in our communities and they deserve a hell of a lot more than what has been provided to date. Time is not something that is on the side of these children. We know the value and importance of early intervention, but that relies on delivery. Otherwise, it is wholly ineffective, just words on pages and sound bites, which have never delivered so much as half an hour of physiotherapy or occupational therapy. It is absolutely meaningless for them. The reality is that while there will be a vaccine for Covid-19, there is not, as one parent remarked, a vaccine for Down syndrome.

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