Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for giving me this opportunity. I was not scheduled to contribute but I was listening to the debate and I decided to do so. I thank Senator Carrigy for the work he and the Committee and Autism have done on this interim report. I thank Deputy Buckley for sponsoring the motion and giving me this opportunity.

There is a lot of good work and there are a lot of positive suggestions within the report. This is a case of the Government, across Departments, wanting and willing to work together. It does not all fall within the responsibility of the Department of Education. There is a role within the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in supporting the home support part of it.

I also commend all the parents and the representative organisations that came before the committee and shared with it. While it is a child-centred approach, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh is correct in saying there are families there, including other brothers and sisters, throughout that long period of summer. I have a vision that we can all work together and that we can achieve the goal the committee's report has set out. There is a role here for the Department of Health, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the HSE.

In the meantime, I will be trying to put regional respite in place. I was sharing with the Minister of State the idea of children who, during the summer provision, will have the opportunity to attend a regional respite house, whether it be equine-based or sport-based. We will have therapists in those houses to assist and complement the summer provision the report has laid out for us. I thank the Minister of State.

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