Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, for selecting this matter. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely, to the House to reply to it.

It is not usually my form to raise on the Adjournment a particular matter concerning one individual. However, the reason I am raising this matter on the Adjournment is that the parents of this child have hit rock bottom in terms of their communications with the Department and the school. For the past number of years, the school has been asking the Department to provide the child in question with a special needs assistant. The child's parents recently told me they were prepared to remortgage their house to get the income required to provide their child with the kind of special needs assistance the State should provide.

The child, who is seven years of age, suffers from autism and attends a school in Rathgar where all his needs are currently being met. However, it is the opinion of the school, the parents and the teachers that the child requires a special needs assistant. Over the past two years the school, which operates in unique circumstances, has applied to the Department of Education and Science and it has asked the Department to reply to this application. In each year that application has been turned down.

I make these remarks against the context of the recent announcement by the Minister for Education and Science regarding the provision of additional permanent teaching posts in respect of special needs, which is very welcome. This child's needs are unique. We have an obligation to respond to this school which has been making this application for the past two years. The Lucena Clinic in Tallaght issued a psychological report on this child recently which describes his condition as autistic spectrum disorder. This entails severe receptive and expressive language disorder. The lengthy report concludes with the recommendation that the results of the assessment may be used to support the school's application for a special needs assistant for the child.

I urge the Minister of State to take note of what I have said this evening, to follow through on the school's application for a special needs assistant for this child, and to ensure that the Department will fully meet the needs of the child and the parents. This will give him the help he needs to avail of educational opportunities.