Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Tully for the work she has put into this motion. In my work, several things strike me when I meet the parents of children with additional needs. I refer to the exhaustion and the frustration, as well as the challenge of dealing with a diagnosis that can be quite difficult. It is a learning process. Parents can be dealing with a diagnosis they did not know anything about and which they must endeavour to understand better. They must try to understand the terminology involved and then empower their wider family. Then, they must be at least a part-time campaigner, if not a full-time one, to wage war against the State. That is what is so disappointing about this situation.

Parents live their lives as citizens of this republic and do everything they feel is right. They pay their taxes, obey the law and live a good life, but all of a sudden they have a child in their care who they love deeply and they can see the State is coming up short. That leads to a major level of resentment within a family and it can feel as if nobody is really speaking, caring, advocating for their child or empowering their child. It leads to incredible issues within the family unit.

I have come across families who are absolutely exasperated and exhausted. It feels as if wherever we turn in Irish society, other people are stepping up. The average GAA club takes on all-star sections to encourage children with additional needs to play Gaelic games. I know of initiatives to make towns and village centres around the country autism-friendly and we are trying to encourage that in Raheny and Donaghmede in my constituency. There seems to be an awareness and understanding among lobby groups of the need to listen better to organisations like AsIAm, Inclusion Ireland and others. There seems to be a uniformity of approach to empower, understand and listen to families and the likes of the Ombudsman for Children, who spoke today.

The one area where we feel there is a lack of evidence of stepping up, unfortunately, is with the State. The Ombudsman for Children remarked today about the fact that more than 34,000 children are waiting over a year for community health services, which is a stunning statistic. When I meet people who work in the HSE, they speak of the retention and recruitment issue, which has been referenced in the Minister of State's remarks. However, the Labour Party made suggestions last April in a Private Members' motion that was, again, accepted by the Government. It advocated that the State should bring forward a national autism strategy. The Government is not opposing this evening's motion and it did not oppose our motion last year. Unfortunately, the action is lacking. I can go to services in my constituency, such as ABACAS school in Kilbarrack, where I can see the conditions that children are expected to learn under. When I meet the parents, they feel that once again, for whatever reason, their children are not at the top of the political priority list.

I understand the Minister of State saying this is not a resources issue and there are other factors. This is not a new problem and it has been evident for a number of years. Parents have been trying to access school places in my constituency. When they do so, they are handed a list of schools by the special educational needs organiser, SENO, with the State again stepping away from the responsibility to find a school place. A parent has to go to school after school, even 17 schools in one case, to try to find a school place for a child. A school place in Drogheda was suggested for a child despite the child living in Donaghmede. There is an absolutely unbelievable type of expectation on parents who again are coming to terms with a diagnosis, terminology and challenges within the family that are absolutely exhausting them.

I believe we can agree that we should have a vision of a republic where any child with a diagnosis, a need or a challenge would have the State enveloping the child with such compassion and the family with such empowerment that the family would feel proud to live in this country. They should be able to say to anybody they know in another country that when they got the diagnosis, despite it being challenging, there was an immediate assessment of need and interventions. They should be able to say the school was absolutely resourced to accept the child and build his or her education. They should be able to say the community in which they live knew exactly how to interact with the child and family. They should be able to celebrate eventually because they are enabled to learn so much from the child. That could be the vision that we could achieve collectively. What happens, however, is that a family gets a diagnosis and it is a devastating moment in life because they know the State will not help. It is not a small decision for a family to end up in court and many of these families have never stood in a courtroom before. It is not something that comes naturally to them. How depressing must it be to walk into a courtroom and see the symbol of the country over the judge's head and know this republic is letting you down?

Last April we put forward a motion on a national autism strategy and we were trying to bring all the different elements of government into one movement and make things better. This was so families could feel as if they could point to a strategy. Again, this is a political point. When we have arguments over tax and spend in this Chamber, the Ministers of the Government justify tax cuts to the tune of €500 million. I always think of these families when that happens. The Minister of State may say it is not about resources or funding but it comes down to that at some level.

This is not a new problem or something that has just arrived today. I have been dealing with it for at least three years. I want the Minister of State to consider again a national autism strategy and make a commitment that we can drive down these numbers. We must be able to say to the families of this country that they do not need to be exhausted or work as campaigners because this State will absolutely support and empower them. I spoke about the ABACAS school in Kilbarrack, and nobody in the Government should feel the conditions there are acceptable. The Ombudsman for Children, the Opposition, lobby groups and others are stepping up. I have mentioned GAA clubs and community initiatives. They all see across society the value in understanding and empowering. It is deeply frustrating when the State does not appear to understand it too.

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