Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----whether they are in schools, residential settings, respite care or, indeed, in healthcare settings. I will not mention individual cases here, but it is an issue that has been brought to the committee by parents and parents' representative groups. I ask that it would be looked at and that any changes in the law that need to be made are made to reflect the need for increased protection for those children and families. This would allow for any issue of concern that is brought forward to be dealt with in the same manner as anyone else who brought forward a claim. For a child who is non-communicative, there are assistive communications and there are other methods out there. I have said before that, as a State, we need to provide augmentative and alternative communication, AAC, devices to all children who are non-verbal. We, as a State, should be able to put the apps on these devices to allow children to be able to communicate.

The Minister of State is well aware of young Fiacre Ryan-----