Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I seek the support of the House regarding an important issue that has come to light recently and which is prevalent in every county in Ireland, namely, the lack of second-level autism spectrum disorder, ASD, units. The number of diagnosed cases of autism is increasing all over the country but we have failed to take this into account and to create the necessary spaces at second level. We are doing much better at primary level in the provision of ASD units but autism does not go away. If we have ASD units in our primary schools then we also need them in our secondary schools but to date we have not been doing that. I will bring this up with the Minister for Education but I would like the support of this House on it because this is an issue in every county in Ireland.

I will relate a couple of stories to illustrate my point. A woman in Sixmilebridge told me that eight children in the local primary school are looking for a place in the closest second-level ASD unit. Up to now these children and their families have supported one another but now they are in competition with one another because there is only one place available. That is an horrific situation. I have worked with people with autism and I have friends with children with autism. It should not be left to parents to fight individual campaigns to get the services their children need, especially as they progress to secondary school. As we all know, adolescence is a challenge at the best of times but it is even more of a challenge for those with autism who cannot always express themselves.

Autism is on the increase but statistically we find that ASD units are more often attached to DEIS schools than non-DEIS schools which disgusts me. Furthermore, they are not allowed in private schools, which are funded by the taxpayer, which is also despicable. There is no socioeconomic correlation with autism. It is not the case that those from a certain socioeconomic background have more of a chance of being diagnosed with autism. In that context, there is no reason for attaching ASD units to DEIS schools and not to other schools. We must have equity on every level. We are sending out the wrong message to our children when we attach ASD units to certain types of schools. We really need to rectify that.I think everyone in the House would agree that we want equality when it comes to where we place ASD units, and we want to increase the number of ASD units we have. Currently, for every three children with autism, we have one place in secondary school, and the situation is only going to get worse. The actual statistic is 2.69, but children are not statistics, they are whole numbers. For me, 2.69 is three human beings for every one place. That means two of them will not have a place. If they have come from an ASD unit in primary school, they will have thrived. These units are amazing. The people who work in them are incredible. Parents are so happy to see their children thriving and it is barbaric to think that after eight years of support, when they leave sixth class they would not have that continuity in secondary school. Let us push this agenda as a House.

We must also up our game when it comes to training. We need to do more training to ensure more people can deal with children in autism units in both primary and secondary school environments. We need to up our game in terms of training as well, whether it is a special needs assistant or just somebody in the environment. I ask the House to support me today on the need to further increase the number of ASD units in all types of school, not just in DEIS schools.