Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the commitment of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to children with disabilities. There is no questioning that because she put in a great amount of work. She is very committed and is trying and working very hard to unpick or disentangle the mess that applies to her brief. This is not about lack of will from the Minister of State.

The Government very much needs to step up to the plate and to invest in resources. The measures mentioned by the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, need to be fast-tracked to ensure the vacancies are filled. Some 20% of all posts are vacant. That equates to 450,000 lost therapy hours a year. That is massive for families who are struggling to manage, support and care for their children.

The figures and data I outlined earlier relate to waiting lists for initial contact. We do not have data for those waiting for other appointments because of ICT deficits. That is something we must strongly challenge. As the Minister of State knows himself, families are struggling and life for children with autism and various disabilities is very difficult. When they go to particular schools, often they are bussed out to their school because there is not a local school for children with autism. This is something in which we, as a society, have failed. We have failed children with autism and we must stand up for children with disabilities and with autism.

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