Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

Music therapy was also mentioned. There are many other types of therapy and I am just giving those as examples. We need to consider programmes whereby we can allow people who wish to help children to do so because there is a need. Many parents, including me in the past, have struggled enormously to get the basic services.

Early intervention was mentioned in the context of individual education programmes. That is crucial in the special educational needs area, especially for autism. There has been improvement in that respect but there is a way to go in terms of early intervention. We need to ensure it is not just those who can afford it that get early intervention. Unfortunately, many people choose to go private in terms of getting their children assessed. We need to up our game in that regard. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act provides the framework for doing that. I pay tribute to the Irish Autism Action group in particular. It is a tremendous group of parent advocates. The parent-based approach has done much to move things along in this country.

It is interesting to compare the situation here with Germany. A total of 60% of children with special needs are educated in ordinary schools in this country but in Germany only 16% of such children are educated in ordinary schools. There are different approaches to this area. The crucial thing with special needs is to accept that each child is an individual and that each child is special. The definition of such a child is he or she is special and he or she has particular needs. It is not the case that one size fits all. Options need to be provided for parents. For example, ABA does not suit every child but it suits many children. ABA is not necessarily appropriate for children for the duration of their lives but it can improve the abilities of a child in order that he or she can be mainstreamed. It is important to adopt a programme that can examine all these actions.

If early intervention is ensured and the problems are diagnosed at an early stage, it will help us to save a great deal of money in the long run and to help children. We have got to move in this direction. The EPSEN Act must be implemented fully. It is not simply a party political issue. This issue affects all of us and it is a measure of how we should judge ourselves as a society. I welcome the motion but, at the same time, the Government amendment is clear and realistic about the current position. It contains many good points but we need to move together on this.