Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I, too, congratulate the Tidy Towns organisation and committees on the huge contribution they make to local communities. I congratulate all those involved in Westport and all of the other towns in County Mayo which won prizes in their categories. We recognise the very hard work that they do.

I wish to mention a four year old girl with a severe neurodisability who is non-verbal and cannot be toilet trained. She has autism and lives in Castlebar. The disabilities section in the Department of Education and Skills is refusing to provide home tuition for her. It is asking this young girl who cannot even respond to her own name to get on a bus and travel 20 km to attend school in Newport. Will the Deputy Leader ask the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, to come to the House to explain how we are cherishing all of the children of the nation equally when a child aged four years who has autism is refused home tuition and asked to travel 20 km on a bus to school? It is inhumane and beyond comprehension. I have gone through all of the processes in trying to get the Department to appreciate the geography of County Mayo and that there is no ASD unit in Castlebar, to recognise that the supports and services needed are not available and that we need some flexibility in our approach. These are not just numbers but children who deserve far better than this. I also ask the Minister to clarify the standing of the Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill 2017, to indicate the Stage it is at and when we can expect it to proceed through the House. There is no point in having conventions to protect the rights of those with disabilities when, in spite of them we have cases such as this. More and more cases are dropping through the system in this very inhumane way.

I commend my colleague, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, for tabling a motion of no confidence in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. Anyone who has any doubt why Sinn Féin has tabled the motion should look at the short film "Through the Cracks", produced by Ingrid Casey, to hear the personal stories of the children and parents who are homeless in this city, confined to hubs and do not have the security of a home.We watched this film earlier today in the audiovisual room in Leinster House to hear how we need to have a right to a home and a human right for housing enshrined in our Constitution. I would like the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to come to the Seanad to tell us exactly how he will tackle the housing crisis.