Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. It is great that he is here this evening to hear the debate. I compliment my colleague, Senator Reilly, on bringing the Autism Spectrum Bill before the House.

Much has been said tonight and I will not go over some of the things that have been said. One thing I have learned from talking to family members of those on the autism spectrum is the nature of the gap between the time a person is diagnosed and the time the person receives the services. While it has been acknowledged that the delay has improved considerably, there is still a need for more improvement in access to therapy services and seeing the psychologist. This time gap is seen as being the essential window of opportunity. Certainly, it needs to be narrowed. That is one area on which I am keen to focus in. Much progress has been made but autism affects so many people. Many families have members or relations who are on the autism spectrum. Certainly, it should not be budget dependent because these children are our future and it is important to secure early diagnosis. I visited an early intervention centres recently. It is not far from where I live. I spoke to the teachers and the families affected and it was an interesting visit. I learned a great deal from it.

The Minister's announcement of an all-party approach and the committee he intends to set up within the HSE is welcome. I am keen to see parents and educators being represented as well as psychologists, those providing speech therapy services and all service providers and occupational therapists involved. It is important that the committee is broad. I welcome that there is cross-party support for this important Bill. I am spokesperson on education on behalf of Fine Gael. The lack of ASD units has been referred to by many speakers. While I welcome that there has been an increase in the number of special classes and special class places and that there are now 888 ASD units, many people have to travel long distances to access them. In some areas, there are no ASD units. I have been raising this issue with the Minister for Education and Skills, but perhaps it could be addressed by the cross-party committee when established. The committee could also address the lack of early intervention special units, of which there are currently only 126. The blueprint is good but we need to increase the resources to optimise the results. Services in the mid-west have been trying to follow international best practice and have set up child service teams which are top quality. However, as I said earlier and as mentioned by other speakers, access to these services is an issue.

I acknowledge the progress to date and the model of services provision. I welcome that we are being proactive rather than reactive and that everybody is willing to work together to deliver this important unit. At the end of the day, what we all want is quality of life not only for people with autism, but their siblings and families. While there has been a small increase in the number of speech and language therapists, I would like to see additional staff recruited because they have a huge role to play in terms of the development of these children.