Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When the Taoiseach took office a month ago, a mother wrote to him asking for help with her six-year-old son. He has severe autism. The family has been refused a domiciliary care allowance. Payment is not supposed to be based on the type of disability but on the level of physical or mental impairment if the child's needs are substantially more than those of other children but this is not what is happening on the ground. Instead families in real need are being denied support. In this case, the mother applied, appealed, went through the oral hearing and was ultimately refused. At the hearing she was told that despite providing all of the possible evidence it fell short of what was described as the high evidential bar prescribed by legislation. This is a key issue. The legislation, or how it is being interpreted, is excluding families in real need. In her letter to the Taoiseach she said she feels disappointed and let down by our country.

She says she has to go to extremes to try and get what her son deserves. This is a huge priority for them as they cannot afford the therapies her son needs now. She asks the Taoiseach to urgently review the situation to ensure that children with severe autism are not excluded. She described to me how she had to pay €120 per session plus €600 for assessment. We are pushing these families in distress into severe poverty.

See this speech in context