Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak about the autism assistance dogs programme provided by Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland. Yesterday, we learned about the programme at a presentation given in the AV Room in Leinster House. The programme has transformed the lives of children with autism and that of their families. The organisation trains and provides highly-skilled, task-specific assistance dogs to children with autism who struggle with the sometimes distressing elements of this invisible disability.

We know that one in 65 children in Ireland have autism. Yesterday, at the presentation we heard from some of the families whose lives have been transformed as a result of getting one of the dogs. Edel talked about her son, Jack, who is 14 years of age. He has a complex brain disorder which means that he has no sense of rule awareness or danger. He is also hypersensitive to noise, which means that he cannot decipher sounds. His mother described taking her son shopping as being equivalent to him experiencing a full-on assault and complete meltdown because of the noise and lights. She described the additional stress caused by what she called the "tutting brigade". She meant the people who look disapprovingly and judge parents for allowing their children to behave in such a way. All of this meant that the family stayed at home and did not participate in normal activities. She said that their assistance dog called Thorpe has given them the confidence to walk out of their front door again. She also said that people became aware that there was an issue and not a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

A woman called Sue who is the mother of Gearóid described how getting their dog, Ruby, transformed their lives from feeling like they lived in a coffin to now being able to live full and active lives. A man called TJ who is the father of a girl named Rebecca described how a great trust has grown between his daughter and her assistance dog called Bella. He said that an assistance dog provides a link between a child with autism and other children in the same way that a guide dog does.

The bottom line is that Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland needs funding. The organisation has achieved full international accreditation but there are 200 children on its waiting list. The organisation wants to train 20 dogs this year but it costs €22,000 to train just one dog. This week we have all heard about the billions of euro in the budget. Surely, funding for this organisation should be a priority for the Government. I ask for the support of the House in trying to obtain a small bit of funding amounting to €500,000 for this very valuable work done by the charity.