Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, for bringing this motion forward this evening. I represent one of the youngest constituencies in this State. There is an urgent and desperate need for more spaces for kids with additional needs in Dublin Fingal West. I want to talk to the Minister about Kaylen. Kaylen is a lovely bright five-year-old boy. His mam is Jodie and he lives in Balbriggan. In 2022, Kaylen was diagnosed with ASD and GDD along with other delays deemed severe. Kaylen is currently non-verbal but he is as mischievous as anything. He is a very lovely child. Kaylen currently attends an ASD preschool. It is his last year there. In preparation for that, his mam has applied to 14 schools with autism classes and to two special schools. She says:

He has gotten 12 refusals from schools so far and also refused from the 2 special schools as the reports I have for Kaylen don’t specifically say they recommend a special school. To get this report I must get a new cognitive assessment, which costs anywhere from €800. In September 2024 I had to pay for an up to date educational report, which cost €200.

This is money people do not have but must spend for a very basic entitlement the Minister should be providing for their children. Of eight primary schools in Balbriggan, only four have autism classes. Jodie, Kaylen's mam, says:

My son and all children like my son deserve better than this. They have a right to an education. All of the hard work and effort Kaylen has done in his ASD preschool will be undone should he be at home with me for months or up to a year again. It is apparently ‘compulsory’ for a child that is 6 years of age to go to school. If my child was neurotypical and I wasn’t sending him to school, social services would be at my door and rightly so. However, because my child is neurodivergent, has different educational needs, I as a parent must scramble along with other parents to get 1 place that’s on offer in a school?

My child has been let down in every sense of the word from this State. He was let down in receiving developmental checks that were constantly cancelled ... He was let down in receiving services & therapies I was told are CRUCIAL to his development.

It is now in the Minister's hands to say whether or not Kaylen will be let down once again.

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