I wish to raise the question of a school for autistic children which is located in James Connolly House, in the grounds of the James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown, County Dublin. This school was based in St. Loman's Hospital in Lucan for a number of years and was reinstated on the site in Blanchardstown about three or four years ago.
Many problems have been encountered with this school over this period, its present structure is quite unsuitable for the needs of the children. Effectively, the building is a portacabin, has been described as unhygienic, dangerous and unsuitable for the children's needs. The children's parents are very concerned that their children be provided with the best care possible and have been lobbying for some time to ensure that a proper building, suitable to their needs, is provided.
The views I express are not mine only, they are those of key officials in the Eastern Health Board. I took the trouble to visit this school. In my view, speaking as someone who is not an expert on the needs of autistic children, it is quite unsuitable. I wish to quote the following from a letter written by key officials of the Eastern Health Board to the Minister for Education, earlier this year:
This prefab has long passed its useful life span. It consists of two classrooms, toilets, and office and eating area. The toilets are unsuitably placed giving rise to problems of management and control. Toilet training is part of the social skills programme for these children. The ceilings are low and, as some of the children are now of adult build, the whole structure is totally unsuitable. It has been condemned by the Office of Public Works and by officials from the building section of your Department. [that is, the Department of Education] who visited the school on 2 March 1993. The health board (patron) has no other suitable premises available and there is no accommodation available in local schools....
However, I should point out that a site is available very close to these portacabins, the present hostel accommodation available to these children, and where they remain on weekdays. The children from my constituency with whom I am acquainted travel across to the school on a Monday morning, may return home midweek but certainly would return home on Friday evening.
There is urgent need for some action to be taken to deal with the deficiencies of this building. This matter is a hobby horse of mine and I have made representations about it several times. Indeed I raised it on the Adjournment in Seanad Éireann a year or two ago. People will have and idea of the type of difficulties some parents encounter when I say that the child is collected by a bus service at 7.55 a.m. approximately on a Monday morning. The set down time for that child to get to the school is 9.15 a.m., yet class does not commence until 10 a.m. On Friday afternoon class concludes between 3.15 p.m. and 3.20 p.m. One particular child is not scheduled to arrive home until 4.45 p.m., but sometimes it may be later.
I hope it will be possible for the Minister to give us reassuring information in regard to what might be done. This matter must receive priority. Based on population trends in the Eastern Health Board area, it is estimated that services will be required for 140 to 160 autistic children. The school would be for a smaller number, because presumably there is a number of other schools available. I hope the Minister will have some encouraging information on this ongoing and very difficult problem.
