Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome. A great deal has been said but, personally, in the first instance, I pay tribute to the Minister of State and thank her so much for her own personal interest in the whole area of disabilities. I know she visited St. Gabriel’s School and centre in Limerick recently. I was present and have been involved with that school for more than 25 years. I know, from her initial visit up to her most recent visit, of the Minister of State's keen personal interest in this school and how much she brought to that whole visit together with the research she carried out herself. I also pay tribute to the staff in the CHO 3 area, which is the mid-west. St. Gabriel’s School and centre working alongside it form a private school and centre, and they are supported by a great deal of private fundraising. The Minister of State also announced two extra days for respite care, which is very necessary for families who are dealing with children with disabilities. It was very clear the Minister of State met many of the families and I want to put my gratitude to her for that on the record.

I know the Minister of State has hit the ground running since she took up her key role in disabilities. I also welcome the fact the waiting lists have started to come down. While I know they are creeping up a little bit again, I am sure the Minister of State will find a way of getting them back down.

The one thing that greatly concerns me at times is where I was dealing with a family with three children not so long ago, two of whom were autistic children and one of them had very profound difficulties. One of these children was 17 years of age and had still not been assessed within the whole system. I was very shocked to find that this young lad had reached 17 years of age without such an assessment. We made a representation and I understand he is to be called very shortly. It is frightening to think a person would reach 17 years of age in such circumstances. There are three children, 17, 15 and 12 years of age, and this concerns the 17- and 12-year-old children. While the 12-year-old was in the service, the 17-year-old had been missed. It just shows this can happen sometimes. The fact is the family had taken those children for a private assessment but yet the private assessment was not recognised within the public system. There needs to be some sort of a reckoning around that and perhaps it is an area that the Minister of State could look at.

Going back to the Minister of State's visit to St. Gabriel’s, we said there were a number of children on the waiting list who would very much benefit from the services. Everything is on site for them as to the services provided in the school. There are so many children there with such profound difficulties, but if the size of the school could be doubled, I know there would be enough children to fill it.

This debate is very timely but I believe the Minister of State has made a very significant impact. I also pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, because I know that, on the whole education side of things, she has been doing a great deal of work on SNAs and the autism spectrum disorder, ASD, units. The two Ministers of State together are a force to be reckoned with. I look forward to working with the Minister of State in the future in this area and I am sure we will be seeing a reduction in waiting list numbers. I am looking forward to seeing her further announcements in the near future.