Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the Seanad today. I put on record my thanks to her for the work she has done since coming into the role on the formation of the Government. She has been a very strong advocate for people with disabilities and, in particular, those people who are on the autism spectrum, with whom I work in my role as Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Autism. I thank the Minister of State for her support on that.

As I know from my involvement in that committee, approximately 25% of those who are on the autism spectrum are either non-verbal or have communication issues. We had a very powerful day in the Seanad a number of months ago when parents and self advocates appeared before the committee to give testimony and evidence to us. On that day, a number of parents spoke about safety concerns for their children, particularly for children who are non-verbal. To me, there seems to be an issue somewhere, possibly within the judicial system, where a child cannot communicate. We have heard stories, one of which was on that particular day. A young child was bruised when they came home. The parent made representations to the school but because the child was not able to communicate their complaints, the principal of the school, Tusla and An Garda Síochána were not able to process the issue.

We need to look at this area and at the Acts in place. In particular, I refer to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 and the Criminal Evidence Act 1992. These should be reviewed and looked at to ensure that non-verbal and minimally communicative children are protected in all cases-----