Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise an urgent, disturbing and upsetting case which has wider ramifications for the State's responsibility to vulnerable children. A mother of a 17-year-old boy in my constituency - I will not mention names, obviously, because it is a sensitive matter - has asked me to raise this issue with the Taoiseach and anyone who will listen. The boy is on the very severe end of the autism spectrum and, as a result, his family were not able to manage him at home. He got a placement out of Dublin, away from where he lives, which broke down through nobody's real fault and he now finds himself in emergency homeless accommodation. This is completely inappropriate and his mother is distraught and seriously worried for his life, such is the nature of his intellectual disability. His autism behaviour is the sort of thing that requires specialised, residential supports, which we completely lack in this country. There are autism spectrum disorder, ASD, residential specialised units in the UK but we have none here and this is a young man who is on the streets and whose life is potentially in danger.

This case has much wider implications in terms of Tusla's responsibility to young and vulnerable children. I would like to email the Taoiseach the details of this case in the context of the wider issue of our responsibility to young children with disabilities.

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