Dáil debates
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Inland Fisheries
Services for Children with Autism
10:30 am
Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Minister of State is as much aware of this sort of problem as I am . On the north side of Dublin we have a problem with primary schools getting services for the support of autistic children. However, what is most distressing is that when children have secured those services, after waiting, and make progress through the education system with the support of appropriate services, they then move to second level where the whole support structure falls away. In my constituency, St. Joseph's post-primary school in Fairview has 17 children in need of autism services. Only eight of them have the support services of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, psychological support and psychiatric service, as one would normally expect. Of the other nine, five are on a waiting list and the others are getting no service.
Is that good enough? These children are in the system. There is no question of people not knowing about them. However, when this was questioned the service provider, Beechpark, said it did not know of the existence of some of the designated children and they thought there only six children and not 13. Where was the Department of Education and Skills in keeping track of children and the service provider and in making sure Beechpark knew about them?
The children were told enrolment was not a matter for them, so that if children were enrolled it was not a matter for them and being enrolled did not guarantee them access to needed support services. How can one say a child who makes progress and has support at primary level has no right to continuing support at second level, other than joining the end of a queue? That is what seems to be happening. I cannot understand how the Department can stand over the lack of what it calls a demand-led scheme in the case of children who have been in primary education and are moving on to secondary education, as any child should. The system does not anticipate their need. This leaves the service provider, Beechpark, in an impossible position in that it must turn to the school and say it cannot support the children and that they must be put on a waiting list. There is no prospect of the children of the waiting list getting help this year.
The school is in an impossible position. What is to happen if there is an emergency requiring the children to have psychological or psychiatric support? There is none available to them. How is the school supposed to continue to cope with that?
Some of the children are subject to what the Department calls a transferral period, whereby they receive support for six months before being put on the waiting list. There is a worry that, at the end of the six months, they will just disappear into the ether and that there will be no continuing commitment.
This is a huge issue. The House passed the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act so every child would have support provided according to his needs. In the case in question the Department is allowing the whole structure to fall apart where a child moving from primary to secondary education, as is natural. This is not good enough in St. Joseph's in Fairview. Apart from the nine children in question, there are 66 in the wider catchment in Dublin North-East in the same boat.
This is a chronic problem. I am sure the Minister of State is aware of the problem from his constituency experience and I ask him to talk to the Minister about it. Something must be done to crack it. Children with special needs of the kind outlined must not be abandoned after so much was put into their development. The Department is risking a falling apart of the system for want of continuing support services.
There is a lack of joined-up thinking in the Department of Education and Skills. It delegates responsibility to the Department of Health and Children, which is equally bizarre, and the child is left swinging. The Minister of State needs to take a hard look at this issue. If he cannot address it tonight, will he consider it further to determine whether a solution can be found?
Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Richard Bruton for raising this matter and I am pleased to take this opportunity to outline to him the position on the provision of services for children in the autistic or Asperger's range on the north side of Dublin.
Government policy and best practice recognise that clients and service users need to be at the centre of service delivery. On an ongoing basis, we are examining the way in which services are delivered to ensure people with disabilities are provided with the best possible services in an efficient and appropriate manner.
Progress has been facilitated in a number of areas in recent years by close co-operation between the health and education sectors, in particular the cross-sectoral team established by my Department and the Department of Education and Science in 2006.
Two legislative elements of the national disability strategy are the Disability Act 2005 and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005 commenced for children aged less than five years with effect from 1 June 2007. This prioritisation reflects the importance of intervention early in life, which can have a significant impact on the disabling effects of a condition or impairment.
In light of the current financial circumstances, it has become necessary to defer further implementation of the Disability Act and of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act.
The Government has put considerable resources into schools to enable them to meet the needs of children with special educational needs. Over â¬1 billion was spent within the education system for this purpose alone last year. Students with disabilities will continue to receive support as they have for the past ten years. The Deputy is fully aware that the Department of Education and Skills has prioritised the provision of special education supports to schools. This is a key Government policy.
The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, is responsible for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within the criteria of the Department of Education and Skills in allocating such support. The NCSE is independent in the making and issuing of its decisions relating to the allocation of such supports.
The NCSE has advised that it is actively identifying and meeting the demand for places for children with Asperger's syndrome and autism in north County Dublin. The NCSE will continue to engage with schools in the area with a view to establishing further autism classes, as required.
On the matter of support services raised by the Deputy, the HSE provides services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders from childhood to adulthood, either directly or indirectly by both statutory and non-statutory service providers. These services include assessment, diagnosis and ongoing treatment and intervention supports. Ongoing interventions and supports may include home support services, respite services and multidisciplinary team supports.
As the name of the school has not been provided, the HSE has assumed that the Deputy is referring to St. Joseph's school in Fairview. Beechpark, as a HSE service, provides clinical supports for children with a specific diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder, who do not have a significant developmental delay, up to 18 years of age who attend designated special schools, outreach preschools and outreach classes and a number of ABA/ABACAS facilities in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.
The Beechpark north-side outreach service provides the clinical supports for children attending schools on the north side of Dublin. This service is not a demand-led service and must operate within a defined allocation of resources. There is currently a capacity issue regarding the number of children Beechpark can support across the Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow areas.
The HSE understands there are four pupils moving from St. Joseph's national school into the post-primary school in September. These children are being wait-listed for support services, but as with all pupils from outreach classes who complete primary education, a six month transition support program is available from the clinical team to ensure a smooth transition to the next level.
Beechpark has a number of children wait-listed for multidisciplinary support services arising from the volume of new classes that have been established across the Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow areas. These children are in preschool, primary and post-primary education. In Dublin's north-eastern region, there are 11 new classes with an overall capacity of approximately 66 children, including those transferring from the St. Joseph's school in Fairview, who may require supports in September 2010.
The provision of supports to these new classes requires additional resource capacity which is not being made available to Beechpark services in 2010. The resources currently available to the four children currently in St. Joseph's primary school do not transfer into post-primary education as there are children on the waiting list to take up the places vacated within the primary school.
Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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They lose the support. How can the Department stand over that?
Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE is currently carrying out a national review of autism services. This review, which is due to be completed by September of this year, will identify the core principles of service delivery and standards of practice that will guide national autism services. The issues concerning services to children with autism spectrum disorders, in addition to those relating to services to adults with autism spectrum disorders, are being examined.
Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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How can the Minister of State stand over abandoning them when they move from primary to secondary education? It does not make sense.