Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am interested in the Minister of State's comment on the review of the policy. Will he or the relevant officials email me with an update on it and on when it will happen? It is an urgent matter. The Department should examine the waiting lists and the desperation of parents because the current teacher training is inadequate and is not fit for purpose for the number of children whom teachers are being asked to teach and take responsibility for. We know that mainstreaming in school is the best option and outcome for children.

Later in the Dáil, a Sinn Féin motion on autism empowerment strategy is to be debated. While it is a detailed motion, the crux of it is that we are calling for an all-party Oireachtas committee on autism to be set up in the immediate term and for it to be tasked with developing and publishing a comprehensive autism empowerment strategy within six months. I ask all colleagues to support the motion. In the meantime, we cannot allow children to be offered placements miles away from their home. They need to remain in their communities rather than being isolated or alienated from them, because they will be the communities' next leaders. The children's families, including their grannies and their support network, will live in those communities and the children will determine how their communities progress, but they will not be able to do so when their childhood takes place away from where they grow up.