Kathleen Funchion highlights shortage of ASD class places
Deputy Kathleen Funchion raised urgent concerns about a shortage of ASD class places and delays in assessments and therapies for children with additional needs. She described parents borrowing or paying privately for speech and language and occupational therapy while facing uncertainty over school placement.
Immediate concerns raised
Deputy Kathleen Funchion told the Dáil she was not present for the start of the debate but wanted to focus on the immediate problem of long waits for assessments of need and therapies, including speech and language and occupational therapy.
Financial strain on families
She said many parents are borrowing from credit unions, moneylenders or family members to fund private assessments and therapies, and that families have "had to battle and fight for absolutely everything."
Local impact in Carlow Kilkenny
Funchion highlighted her constituency of Carlow Kilkenny, and Kilkenny in particular, saying she could immediately think of 10 children who do not have an ASD class place for September and who are leaving ECCE and becoming unwell.
Consequences for school entry
She contrasted pupils starting junior infants who already know their September placements with children with additional needs who are being treated as second-class citizens, uncertain where they will go to school and potentially facing long travel distances.
Engagement with colleagues and responsibility
She commended Deputy Tully for her work, thanked the minister for their reply, and noted that provision of ASD class places falls to the Minister for Special Education while pressing the urgency of the issue.
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Thanks very much, Cathaoirleach. First of all, I also want to commend my colleague Deputy Tully, and thanks, Minister, for your reply. I wasn't present for the start of the debate. I have two minutes, so I want to really focus. As other deputies have said, it is so frustrating when parents are waiting, and even if it's not for the assessment of need, it can be for speech and language, occupational therapy, and I'm finding an awful lot of parents that are either trying to borrow money, maybe from a credit union, often worry only from money lenders, or from family members, to try and pay for these therapies privately, and what's becoming a major, major issue, and I want to particularly mention this tonight in the constituency of Carlow Kilkenny, and in particular in Kilkenny, is the lack of ASD class places. Now, I know it doesn't fall directly, I know it falls to the Minister for Special Education, but I did want the opportunity to raise that. Straight away, I can think of 10 children that don't have an ASD class place for September, and these are children that are actually turning sick. So they're out of the system of ECCE, and really parents are at their wits end, because the same parents are saying they've had to battle and fight for absolutely everything. They've had to pay for a huge amount of the services, either for a private assessment or for the therapies, and now they're saying they're not even maybe being provided with a school place. And ironically, in the same week that children who are starting into junior infants are getting their letters, they know they're going to be starting school in September, and we're treating children with an additional need as second-class citizens, not knowing where they're going to be going, and some of them might be facing very large distances if they do actually get the opportunity to get a place. So I wanted to particularly raise that issue, and I want to again commend Deputy Tully for her work in this area, and thank you very much. Thank you very much for your luck.
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