I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment although I am disappointed that the Minister for Health and Children is not here to deal with this himself. This saga has been going on for a number of months and no progress has been made.
The parents of two autistic young adults are in the Visitors Gallery this evening because they are angry and frustrated that their requests for places for their children with the Irish Autism Society have been refused over a long period. The reasons put forward by the Eastern Regional Health Authority for refusal to transfer the young adults to the facility reputedly relate to a review of the Irish Society for Autism. In the first instance, I found it annoying to deal with the ERHA on this matter and to be either ignored or kept waiting for an extensive period of time for any substantial reply to a number of questions put by me. When a substantial reply did finally arrive, it referred to the review being completed and some recommendations being made to the society. The answer is so vague as to be useless. It includes terms such as, "some suggestions about advancing the implementation of those recommendations", and so on. There is no timeframe for the implementation plan. It offers no insight into the reasons for the review or of the gravity or otherwise of the need for the recommendations to be implemented. In the meantime, the parents are becoming more frustrated with the system and the two young people awaiting placement are in limbo and uncertain about what the future holds for them.
These parents are only concerned about getting the best quality service for their children. They want them to be secure and comfortable in their environment. They want to be assured that the service that is being provided is the most suitable for their children. I suggest that nobody knows better the psychological needs of the children than their parents.
Can the Minister give me some indication of the reasons for the delay in implementing the recommendations, in auditing them and in reaching an agreement between the autism society and, specifically, the South-Western Area Health Board? Does the delay relate only to the fact that there is a cost involved to the health board? Is this a cutback by another name? The intransigence of the health board on this issue is beyond belief.
Autism is described as one of the most distressing forms of mental disorder of which the most outstanding characteristics are extreme aloneness, difficulty in relating to other people and severely impaired or no speech. Sadly, it is not a passing ailment that will be cured with medication in a few weeks or months. The Irish Society for Autism met and agreed a way forward with the health board in April of this year, or so it thought. Any outstanding issues were not considered to be substantial by either side. Why is it then that two months later there is no progress? The autism society thought it had answered all the queries that arose in that review process.
I am asking the Minister of State to examine this case and to ensure that the two boys in question are given the opportunity to have a reasonable quality of life through being able to access the appropriate adult service. Their names are John and Mark. They are real people. They are not statistics, and it is not good enough to make scapegoats of John and Mark or their parents because of what seems like another cutback by stealth. This week we have been lauded in this country for our response to the athletes taking part in the Special Olympics, and rightly so. However, John and Mark are also special and they too would like to be given an opportunity to attain their potential.
