Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased that the Minister's officials will meet the HSE early intervention team in County Mayo. It is not right that so many children and parents are being left behind. Many parents are enduring significant anxiety because they cannot get basic education for their children. I ask the Minister to meet those parents and listen to them. The voices of parents are often lost in all of this. I emphasise to the Minister that this issue needs to be dealt with for economic reasons as well as social ones. By not providing proper early intervention and education for children with autism, we are missing out on what the abilities of all these children can contribute to the State. I look forward to a positive outcome from the meeting that has been mentioned. Perhaps the Minister will come to the House at a later date. It is absolutely imperative for a properly resourced and funded ASD unit to be set up in the county town of Castlebar so that all therapies are provided to children with autism in this part of County Mayo as part of an all-inclusive education.