Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will add my voice to what has been said, in the sense that a spectacular piece of work has been done by the Oireachtas committee. I thank Senator Carrigy, Deputy Tully and everybody who worked on the committee, of which I was not a member but I sort of inveigled myself in. I have a tendency to do that. The Minister of State will not be shocked, exactly. We dealt with a huge number of people, officials, organisations, advocates and beyond that, families and individuals. That is the bit that was absolutely vital. As you cannot have a conversation without talking about disability services and CDNTs, we also spoke to those who represented speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and all those others. I appreciate what the Minister of State said in regard to the autism innovation strategy. Nobody is too worried any more as to what the name of the organisation, the working group or the interdepartmental group is, we just need to make sure we deliver a fit-for-purpose service that provides cradle-to-grave services. It is across the board for those with autism. We know that we have to do our bit in regard to changing everything, from the health service through to educational institutions and all the rest of it. There are some welcome pieces of work being done. It is the old saying that "I would not start from here if I were you, but here is where we are." We need to make sure we get that done. It goes without saying that it will involve universal design and reasonable accommodation but beyond that, when we are talking with families and autistic people there has to be early intervention. We throw that term out there and then we do not always deliver the service that is required. It has to be that single point of access. No matter what it is called, it has to be that single point of access with no wrong door. When we talk about the medical system, at times it is medical and health versus education and that has to change. We need to see the school inclusion model. We need to put those therapies where they are needed, while at the same time there will be a need in respect of other people who will require CDNTs, primary care and whatever else. It should work relatively seamlessly. That is where we want to get to but that is not where we are at this point in time. It is a matter of how to make this happen. How do we make these 109 recommendations happen? How do we make the autism innovation strategy, whenever it is finalised, happen? How do we provide the service that is required?

I was at two committees this week. The education committee was dealing with the issue regarding special education teacher allocation hours. We know the mess we are dealing with there. It needs to be addressed by being scrapped and revisited. I am not too worried about what consultation has happened, the net result is not necessarily good for a great number of the students out there. Like every other representative in here, I have been contacted by any number of teachers, principals and schools. That is something we need to deal with. It did not take very long until it got into the subject of CDNTs. Alongside that committee, there was the committee on disability matters, which was dealing with the HSE. There was complete acceptance in regard to a single point of access and what we need, while accepting we do not have the service we require at the minute within the CDNT.

I spoke about my own wee lad, Turlough. He has been in Ó Fiaich. I can only say great things about the school in Dundalk. The primary care psychologist did a huge element of work and dealt with the school dealt and with Annemarie, my wife and our son, Turlough, but now wants to put him back to the CDNT. She is worried about that. He does not need to be stuck on a waiting list for two years. He is 15 years of age. That is the sort of situation we are dealing with. I have parents with a child with autism who is violent. They have particular issues with the child.

The wider issue for this kid is that he had a diagnosis of autism and is now presenting with what psychologists and others who are not within the system would say is ADHD, but they need some form of assessment. They are trying to get to CAMHS but all they are really looking for is an assessment to provide delivery. I am aware of a case where CAMHS was willing to look at a young girl with autism who had previously been referred to CAMHS but did not get access to the service. It now looks like that is happening, however.

Bernard O'Regan frightened me yesterday when he said he thought Bernard Gloster told him the autism protocol was in play, but that he was hearing it is only in play in four CHOs. He made the point that we need to make sure that happens across the board or get some sort of clarity. That is what he said yesterday. My apologies to the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for going over time.

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