Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the three Ministers and wish them well. Disability services in south Tipperary are quite simply non-existent and not fit for purpose. The CDNT teams, despite the efforts of the therapists working in them, are simply not fit for purpose with huge vacancies and even longer waiting lists. Children are crying out for autism assessments, psychology services and speech and language and occupational therapies, and the services are simply not there to meet demand. On top of that, there is a severe shortage of appropriate school places. Again, parents are scrambling for schools. They are going around to dozens of schools in some cases for a place next September. At the same time, I have schools offering ASD units and they are meeting delays and brick walls from the Department. I have young children like Michael Barrett and Oisin Carroll who deserve an education and cannot get places. Others are currently waiting without a school place. We have Scoil Aonghusa, a wonderful institution, which is bursting at the seams waiting for additional accommodation. Yet again, the Department is letting us down and not helping them out there. We have a severe issue and we have to grasp the nettle and do something serious about it.

See this speech in context