Recently, when Deputy Finian McGrath and I were standing at the gate of Leinster House awaiting the return of Deputy Joe Higgins from prison we were approached by a family with a young adult son who were picketing the Dáil. They were at their wits end. They had gone through every possible avenue in an attempt to get a day placement for their son and had totally failed. They had approached various public representatives but nothing had happened. In despair they approached Deputy McGrath and myself at the gate and asked us to help.
We tabled parliamentary questions following that encounter and the reply to my question was as follows:
Responsibility for the provision of services to persons with an intellectual disability and those with autism in the Dublin region rests with the Eastern Regional Health Authority. Therefore, my Department has asked the chief executive office of the authority to investigate the matter raised by the Deputy and reply to him directly.
Needless to say, it will be some time before I get the standard reply from the Eastern Regional Health Authority but nothing will happen for the young person.
By coincidence, a number of other parents of young adults in similar circumstances contacted me. I refer to correspondence I received from some because they had been to the Eastern Regional Health Authority, had investigated the whole issue and had come up with nothing. My correspondents have a son, now 17 years old, who will be leaving a special school in June of next year. For the past two years the parents have been endeavouring to find a suitable service for his needs as a young autistic adult. He is mildly autistic, requiring a workshop facility or social programme but not residential care. The response the parents have received from the local services has been slow and, so far, negative. It has been established that they are outside the catchment area of St. Michael's House in Glasnevin, which would have the most suitable facilities for him. The director of services of the Daughters of Charity in the Navan Road, which covers the city area and where they live, has indicated that lack of resources prevents them from extending their services.
The Daughters of Charity say that, as an agency, they are in recent months in receipt of numerous referrals of individuals with a diagnosis of autism-PDD. During 2002, the ERHA completed a review of services for persons with autism spectrum disorder in the region. The recommendations of the report set out the range and direction for service development in coming years. The Daughters of Charity have been in contact with the regional chief executive in relation to this and assured that one of the goals of the report is the development of autism specific services within intellectual disability services to ensure those clients with both an intellectual disability and ASD are properly supported. However, there is no apparent evidence of action of any sort being taken on the reports, other than the assurance that the authority "intends" to establish a regional implementation committee.
The dilemma of the parents is outlined in their letter to me. The Daughters of Charity have no extra funds and cannot accept their son in June until the ERHA takes action on the report. If it intends to establish a committee first, they wonder how long it will take for appropriate services to be made available to their son. They point out that autistic persons do not like change and need good preparation for changes to be successful. There is nothing for their son and they envisage him staying at home all day with nothing to do and losing the confidence and skills he has acquired during his time in the special school. They emphasise that there seems to be no sense of urgency on the part of the health board. They have asked me to investigate the progress so far of the ERHA in its establishment of a regional committee and finish by asking what is the future for their son and the many other autistic young adults in our society. They ask this question in absolute despair.
