Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In any event, it is in marked contrast to the provision of services for children with disabilities. This week I was approached by the parents of a young man who is doing his leaving certificate this year. He is a high academic achiever but he is going nowhere because he can go nowhere without supports. In 2020 he was assessed and none of the interventions that was recommended has been provided. He will soon reach his 18th birthday and after that he does not have a legal right to supports and he cannot go on to third level education without some of the supports. Those parents are in the very east of the county. On the western seaboard of the county I was approached by the parents of a young child in infant class. They struggle every day to get him to go to school. It is a major struggle. They get him to school and he stands inside the gates alone, locked in his own world and he stays there for the day. They cannot even get him assessed. They are being referred from pillar to post, and from one service to another, despite the fact that early intervention is key to dealing with autism and is key to unlocking the potential of that young child, as it is for his leaving certificate counterpart. Supports are key to unlocking the potential of his leaving certificate counterpart on the other side of the county. Whatever moneys are provided they are not trickling down and services are not being provided. What hope will the Taoiseach offer to the parents of those children and to parents right across Clare and the country?

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