Joan Freeman (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Two distressing issues came to my attention in the last 24 hours. Senator Ó Ríordáin was with me last night at Scoil Chiaráin in Donnycarney where we met parents of children with special needs who are being utterly neglected. Scoil Chiaráin is an ordinary primary school and yet almost 50% of its pupils have special needs or are on the autism spectrum. While the school is magnificent and supportive in every way, none of these parents can get outside help for their children from the HSE.

One parent became quite distressed during the evening. Her son is nine and because he is on the spectrum every year his needs change, which is quite normal for a child with autism. Last year this child was eating clothes. This year he has lost all sense of mobility, which is also quite normal during the development of a child with autism. However, it took four years for the HSE to assess him and he has now been waiting for two years for a follow up. That was just one parent. Several other parents also broke down. The people who are looking after the children are the parents along with the special needs assistants and teachers in the school. None of them is sufficiently qualified to be able to handle children with autism.There was a distressing article on thejournal.iethis morning about another child, aged 15, who is presenting with terribly disturbing behaviour. She is self-harming and suicidal all the time. If she sees tablets in someone's handbag, she will grab them and swallow them. She has been placed in Wexford General Hospital and yesterday had spent 115 days waiting for a child-appropriate bed, yet the HSE will state over and over that children with mental health difficulties stay, at most, two or three days. A bed is available for the child in Kildare but she cannot be placed in it because the HSE says it does not have the funding, yet it is costing it €40,000 per month to keep the child in Wexford General Hospital. I do not get it. After two and a half years listening from this side of the fence and after decades on the other side, I suggest we should petition to have children's mental health and disability services removed from the Department of Health and placed under the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, under the guardianship of its Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone. I do not know whether this is possible but I will try to pursue it because the children are being overlooked all the time by the Department of Health. Every single day we hear about issues concerning children, and every single day they are being ignored. I ask Members to support me on this.