Legislation is essential to guarantee the implementation of the new autism strategy into the future, the Dáil has been warned.
Sinn Féin spokeswoman on disability Pauline Tully welcomed the promised publication of a new strategy, to be published in early April, but insisted it was crucial that new laws are in place to ensure it is acted on.
The Cavan-Monaghan TD was opening a Dáil debate on the final report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism. It makes 109 recommendations, all of which Ms Tully said must be implemented as soon as possible.
The report calls for legislation requiring the State to publish a strategy and review it every three years and obliging the minister for disabilities to update the Dáil and Seanad annually.
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It also calls on the Government to establish a committee or monitoring group between autistic people to participate in drafting long-term protections, and for mandatory autism training for health and social care staff.
The autistic community in Ireland “have been repeatedly let down by the State and many autistic people and their families wonder whether they can trust that services will ever improve”, and the legislation would “go someway to rebuilt that trust” with the provision of services “which are so desperately needed”.
Ms Tully highlighted the “shocking evidence” the committee heard from those with autism and healthcare professionals about the inadequate provision of healthcare and mental health supports.
Recommendations also included a call for the establishment of a “single, clear entry point to children’s disability services”. Ms Tully said this was essential because at present autistic children are passed between services.
Several witnesses told the committee that Camhs (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) “refuses to work with children who have a primary diagnosis of autism on the basis that Camhs’ services are unsuitable for them”.
She pointed out that the life expectancy of autistic people is potentially reduced by 16 to 30 years while the risk of suicide is seven times higher among autistic people than in the general population.
Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte confirmed that a new strategy on autism will be published in the first week of April and the autistic community is involved in all stages of its development process.
Ms Rabbitte said the strategy will lay the foundations of ensuring it is “part of mainstream service delivery”.
She told TDs that “it will not fix everything by itself but it will deliver tangible result in the short to medium term and provide the building blocks for a more autism-friendly service in the longer term”.
But the Minister warned against creating “a perceived hierarchy of disabilities” in addressing the bespoke challenges and barriers facing those with autism. She said many of the issues they face also affect other persons with disabilities.
Ms Rabbitte said there had been 300 responses to a public consultation and she pointed to an increased budget of €25 million a year for respite services to ensure they expand across the country.
Addressing the challenges in recruitment and retention of staff the Minister said 662 new full-time staff were recruited last year compared to 231 the year before. There had also been an 8 per cent pay increase for Section 39 employees. The Education and Training Board has created 250 training places for assistant therapist roles, up from 125 last year for speech and language.
Chairman of the committee Fine Gael TD Micheál Carrigy welcomed the work done to date to improve services but he said the committee heard evidence from many witnesses suggesting issues affecting services and supports for the autistic community “cannot be resolved in the lifetime of a single strategy”.
Many ask if they can trust that future governments will continue the work of Minister Rabbitte and the new strategy. “It must be borne in mind that much of the progress which has been achieved to date in respect of ensuring the services for autistic people are on the agenda, is due to the hard work of autistic self-advocates and the families of autistic young people.”
Mr Carrigy said it would be “bitterly disappointing for the community and their loved ones if we did not grasp the opportunity to give a statutory basis to the strategy to ensure that the rights of autistic people are not neglected in the future”.
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