Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will start by thanking the Chair of the committee, Senator Micheál Carrigy, for all his hard work and dedication, for making sure that members of the committee understood what was happening and for going above and beyond with the 109 recommendations. I remember being so nervous going into my first committee meeting on autism and issues that impact people who are autistic because we usually say people with autism and people who are autistic are not the issue, society is the issue. Receiving the training we got as a committee really opened my eyes because I know and totally understand that sometimes people are afraid to speak to Travellers because they do not know how to approach. We all think it is that human level but our language is critically important and every single member of the autism committee got that great training from AsIAm. It is something that will stand to us even when we leave these Houses, so I thank the committee for that.

There was cross-party support and it was not a very political committee. It was focused on autistic people, which is really important. One recommendation from the report that really stands out to me is the review of CAMHS relating to access for children who are autistic. To think that in the Ireland of 2023 and 2024, a service can be blatantly discriminatory towards people with disabilities and towards autistic children is shocking. In one of the Committee on Disability Matters meetings, I asked whether it was discrimination and this is why I can stand up here confidently and say yes it was. When I asked the chairperson of the Mental Health Commission, John Hillery, was it discrimination he said that it was. It is so wrong to see discrimination in CAMHS. We all know the scandal with CAMHS over the last two years and how CAMHS needs to be reviewed, but it definitely needs to be reviewed for children with additional needs and for autistic children, of course.

One matter I brought to the autism committee I thought was very simple was around play and ensuring children have equal access to playgrounds to be able to play with their brothers and sisters. This would mean their fathers and mothers do not have to go to the next village to bring their children to a play area where they can play like they have to in Ardara, County Donegal. I welcome the capital grant this year that resources the scheme for playgrounds that are more inclusive. That came from the committee and it is absolutely fantastic. I understand some of the funding is for projects like the one in Longford that we spoke about in the committee to carry out research on some of the playgrounds. People who are autistic need to be accommodated. The Minister of State should be aware that the disability matters committee and the autism committee are something I am very passionate about but not it is just me. Every Senator that is here this evening is really passionate about equal rights for people who are autistic.

I want to compliment the community of Ardara, who have campaigned for and funded a sensory room in a very rural community. It is a sensory room on a football pitch. Parents came together for it and the national school in the area also can use the sensory room. As a result of the recommendations of this committee, it really brought it to the fore. It is more of a social issue but it is so important that we understand politics have an impact and that is something the committee highlighted. There were 109 recommendations. The committee would be an absolute failure if these recommendations were not implemented. I know that in February 2022, the Minister of State presented these 101 recommendations to the Dáil. It is not about us talking about issues that impact on autistic people, it is really about the answers. AsIAm came into us, parents of children who are autistic and adults who are autistic appeared before our committee and gave us the answers we put in this report.

It is up to the Department to implement those recommendations because I remember visiting a Minister with a Traveller organisation one time and we talked about the recommendations from the Traveller committee. No word of a lie, the Minister said that is just a committee and we do not heed half of the recommendations from a committee. That went right to my heart and I thought what is the point of us doing committee work and not having it implemented. The committee gives us power and the recommendations from the committee are important. It is not about kicking the can down the road; it is about us really listening to people and it is about the Department implementing the recommendations. We can sit from here until Christmas and way after an election and be back here and keep talking about issues that impact people who are autistic, but it is about the little wins we can achieve at local level, like sensory spaces in schools and playgrounds.

The report that came out a few months ago from the Ombudsman for Children on denying children with special additional needs access to education is absolutely appalling. We are still living in a country where children with additional needs and autistic children are denied access to education. That has to stop. We can all be in agreement on that. It is also one of the recommendations from the committee as well; equal access to education and good supports in education. We need to put our money where our mouth is and we really need implementation. If not, the committee was a waste of everybody's time. I know the Minister of State is very passionate around disability rights and the rights of people who are autistic but it is really about implementation. There is no better person to make sure our recommendations are implemented than the Minister of State, without putting pressure on her or without being sweet, I know her heart is in the right place. I thank the Chair again for all his hard work and dedication and I thank the Minister of State. I especially thank the witnesses and the families who came in and educated us as politicians and activists.