Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am speaking today not only as a representative but as a witness to the asylum struggle that so many parents endure across this country. These struggles are invisible to the system but are devastatingly real for the people who must live them every day. I will speak about Andrea and her daughter, Joanna, a family in my constituency whose story, sadly, is not unique but remains deeply urgent and troubling. Andrea is a midwife and nurse who served this country tirelessly, even during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was during that time that she gave birth to Joanna. From an early age, Joanna's developmental differences were recognised and flagged only through a research study focused on children born during Covid. As autism was identified early, one would imagine that the door to care and guidance would open, but that door never opened for her. Andrea's journey through the public system has been harrowing. At no point did she feel supported. Not once did a care pathway emerge. It was not professionals, institutions or hospitals, but friends and colleagues with lived experience who stepped in to offer the scraps of advice the State failed to provide.

Andrea was told to place Joanna in mainstream school to see how she would get on. Joanna is not an experiment, however, she is a child with specific needs, one whose teacher quickly recognised that mainstream was not appropriate for her. Despite that, Andrea still could not access primary speech therapy for her child. She was blocked at every turn. At a couple of appointments and consultations, she was told by clinicians who had never seen her daughter that she was not disabled enough to qualify for services. A child with a recognised diagnosis and evidence-based needs was denied access, not because of the assessment but due to the bureaucracy, box-ticking and gatekeeping.

Andrea has been forced to fight tooth and nail for her child. She has had to advocate constantly and relentlessly, even to the point where she had to speak down about her own daughter. Let me be clear; no parent should have to diminish their child's dignity to access care. Mainstream schools with overcrowded classrooms and under-resourced teachers are not equipped to support children like Joanna. Teachers are doing their best but they are not miracle workers. They are not trained to manage complex needs without proper structures in place. Andrea was told that a new special school was on the way - hope at last - but that it would not be ready in time. Instead, Joanna was offered a place in a community hall with no fencing, no proper infrastructure and no proper safety measures in place. How can we stand over this? How can we call ourselves a compassionate, developed country, when parents such as Andrea are left at the mercy of an unfeeling, unco-ordinated system? Andrea and her husband have reshaped their entire lives to care for Joanna. She now works nights and her husband works days to ensure that someone is there to take care of her. Still, after all these sacrifices, Andrea does not know whether Joanna will get a place in school.

The passion and love Andrea has for her daughter is palpable. It radiates when she speaks. She does not just love her child - she adores her. She told me that Joanna has made her a better mother, a better friend and person and an even more empathetic nurse. That is the kind of parent Andrea is and the kind of mother our society should be lifting up and not breaking down. As she spoke to me exhausted and in tears, she said something that would stay with you for a long time. She said that she could buy speech therapy and private assessments, but she cannot buy her child a school place. In Ireland today, access to basic education, which is a fundamental right, is not something that money, love or sacrifice can guarantee.

This Government must be held accountable for the lack of forward planning. We cannot keep pretending this is acceptable. We need a streamlined humane system, one that supports families in the diagnosis and education systems and beyond. There needs to be an end to this endless waiting and gatekeeping that Andrea and Joanna have had to endure. Joanna does not want to just survive in school; she wants to thrive. She deserves to. Andrea deserves to be her mother, not just her case worker, therapist, advocate and fighter. I say to Andrea and every parent fighting this uphill battle: "I see you. We see you." It is now time that the system finally sees them too.