Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will raise the plight of children with autism, who are still being failed by the State. Back in July, we in Labour put forward a motion on the need for better co-ordination and improved services for children with autism that got cross-party support and yet, over recent days, Deputy Ó Ríordáin and I have been hearing from school principals who are deeply concerned at a new instruction from the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, that they are to carry out assessments of need on their own pupils in the place of educational psychologists. This is a matter of real concern. There is a need for clarity on this.

Furthermore, I learned today that the Milne twins from north Dublin, whose plight I raised with the Taoiseach in May, have still not received an appropriate school place. Kyle and Ryan Milne are twin boys. The Taoiseach gave an apology with regard to their case in May and their plight was addressed on two different "Prime Time" programmes on RTÉ. Despite this, their mother, Gillian, has said that, even though we are now coming up to the Hallowe'en mid-term break, her kids are still at home and there is no school place ready for them. They will be 12 next March. It is simply not good enough.

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