Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group for initiating this legislation. It dates from 2017 and it is now 2021. That speaks for itself. Many elements in this Bill must be implemented and it is urgent that it passes quickly. I note what this legislation states about the need for joined-up services. I refer to a communication the HSE sent to a young man with autism who is aged 22. It stated that he had been selected for a review of his eligibility for a medical card or a GP card. How must that feel for a 22-year-old man with autism who has had to fight all the way through from his initial diagnosis to accessing all the therapies, and who has now found a job and succeeded against all the odds in doing so? He has been selected for this review and he was distraught about it. The communication closed by stating that if this young man does not submit an eligibility review application by 1 December 2021 that his eligibility will expire on 31 December 2021. This is how we are treating young people with autism and it is not right. I ask the Minister of State to please talk to the medical card section and tell the staff there that people with autism have it throughout the rest of their lives. People given opportunities can live a good and fulfilling life, about which my colleagues have talked, and therefore I ask the Minister of State to please tell the medical card section to stop sending out letters like this to people with autism.

I also have another case of a boy aged 15 who is fighting to get into second level schooling. What is happening is that the system is arguing with the school about the services that need to be provided. Schools, principals and teachers are not trying to defraud the system. If these services are required to meet the needs of young people with autism and to give them their educational rights, then they must be provided. I urge the Minister of State to put those services in place, to talk to the special educational needs organisers, SENOs, and to change the system.

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