Seanad debates

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

5:00 pm

Photo of Martin ConwayMartin Conway (Fine Gael)

This is a case with which I am very familiar. It concerns a seven year old boy with intellectual disabilities who requires attention and intervention. He was attending the autism unit in Inagh national school, north County Clare, which unit has a proud reputation for achieving a lot in early intervention and ensuring children can be in the mainstream as much as possible. The boy in question had made significant progress since attending the unit and was in the mainstream classes for maths and English. Teachers were extremely pleased with his development, as were his parents, family, friends and neighbours. I know him and could see the improvement. Unfortunately, in recent months he has taken a significant step backwards. His behaviour is out of character compared to how he had been for a number of years. Something is fundamentally wrong. His family is at the end of its tether; his behaviour is so bad that, for health and safety reasons, he has had to be moved from school to home. He has had to return home on a number of occasions. His behaviour is inexplicable. The problem is that in recent years he has had not sessions with an occupational therapist. In spite of the family and the school principal ringing two or three times a day for the past month, the early intervention service based in Ennis has failed to provide for an assessment or send an occupational therapist to identify the root cause of his inexplicable behaviour.

The Minister of State has a proud record in this area. Children are extremely important and the Government has appointed a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Its commitment to this area is clear, but it seems there is a blockage. I would not have taken the unusual step of submitting a matter for discussion on the Adjournment unless I had reached the end of my tether in seeking to resolving the matter for the family. It needs urgent attention. I plead with the Minister of State to ensure the systems of State do not let this boy down.

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