Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the groups in the Gallery and wish them well. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which we in Sinn Féin support. Indeed we supported a similar Bill last October that was reintroduced by the Regional Group. That Bill is scheduled for Second Reading this October.

In April 2019, Sinn Féin brought forward a motion calling for an autism empowerment strategy and the establishment of an Oireachtas committee on autism. The motion received widespread, cross-party support and a commitment was given to deliver on both issues. Two years after my colleague, Deputy Kathleen Funchion, introduced our motion, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, finally announced her intention to establish a working group to develop an autism innovation strategy. A further year later, on 29 April this year, a public consultation process was launched. Almost three years after the Sinn Féin motion, a Joint Committee on Autism was finally established last February.

The Government needs to listen to groups that support people with autism. The recent AsIAm research highlighted the lack of employment supports available. More than 85% of people with autism are either unemployed or underemployed. There are many perceived barriers to obtaining employment and workplaces are generally considered unaccommodating to the needs of adults with autism. For example, 57% of businesses do not provide work experience opportunities for people with autism. More than 75% of people with autism believe they face barriers in getting the jobs they want or starting their own businesses. This is not acceptable. Some 70% of respondents did not feel confident that managers, colleagues or clients know enough about autism to support them at work. As a result, less than 10% felt confident enough to be open in the workplace about their autism diagnosis. There is a reluctance among people with autism to request reasonable accommodation from an employer.

The first step to the workplace is a good education. We need to ensure that every child has an appropriate school place. As I said last week in the House, our children have a constitutional right to education yet as the recent AsIAm survey revealed at least 267 children do not have an appropriate school place this September. We spoke about the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan’s regressive proposals on centres of special education. That is a huge concern. The Minister for Education has been on national radio recently calling out four schools in a manner that left these schools baffled. This needs to be taken in hand.

The final statement in the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman's, script that the Government will not oppose or support the legislation is a disgrace.

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