Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome, as always. I am raising this Commencement matter on behalf of Fatima Groups United, which operates in the F2 Centre in Dublin 8. It has the most magnificent facility as part of the whole redevelopment of Fatima. In it, every room is chock-a-block with services to the community. It really lives up to what it does. The group ran a pilot programme for 32 children aged four to 18 that was very successful. It was for families in the Dublin 8 and 12 areas, principally families who were on a waiting list for the CDNT. The referral came from the CDNT, Tusla or local schools. The group ran a children's activity club where families could access a range of programmes. It was to do with socialising and giving supports to children who were waiting on treatment services, and they were really the group's public.

This is an area that experiences a high level of social deprivation and the group finds itself filling a gap because parents in these areas cannot afford any private services, so they are really reliant on this. The programme was run in a previous iteration of the strengthening disability services fund. The group made the application based on the pilot and on the outcomes. Parents said things such as:

Being here has saved me. My anxiety ... [went] through the roof. I am more relaxed, I understand him more and see his needs. I got so much information to help me cope. We do more things now because we aren't judged as much and because I know what works for him so I now know not to go to busy places and do things at pace. Our homelife is ... much better. We aren't as isolated anymore, my nerves aren't as bad.

This was an holistic approach of caring for both children with autism who are neurodiverse and their parents, and assisting that exchange between parent and child, along with other children in these activity clubs.

The group made an application and submitted it on 10 November in accordance with the deadlines for the strengthening disability services fund. The group was notified on 27 November that successful programmes would be advised. In February, the group sought an update because the pilot programme money was running out in June.The group was told there was a large number of applicants and that it would hear back. It was the same in April when I got on board and started to seek moneys for the group. On 23 April, I got a letter from the HSE telling me there had been a reference from the Department to the HSE and that was where I should write for an update. I am there all the way on that. In June, finally, a further letter was received. The group followed up the email, as did I, only to receive word back that the application had been refused.

Here we have 32 children relying on this service, with a plan to increase the number to 60, and now we have a situation where it cannot go ahead because of the piecemeal funding. The group ran an extremely successful pilot of exactly the type of programme needed to empower parents and support children, and it was done in a holistic manner for the whole family in an area of social deprivation. In every way, therefore, the initiative hits all the things the Minister of State speaks passionately about here. It is an ideal programme of support yet it cannot continue now because the funding has been refused. What are the criteria in this regard and how and why did this group not succeed with its application?