Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The second item on our agenda is a consideration of autism policy and the services and supports provided by the State for autistic people in particular. I welcome our witnesses to today's meeting. We are joined by representatives from the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland, AOTI, Mr. Odhrán Allen, chief executive officer, and Ms Rosalind Noël, senior occupational therapist, children's disability network team, CDNT, Cope Foundation, and member of the association's management team; from the Irish Association of Speech & Language Therapists, IASLT, Ms Aine Lawlor, chairperson of IASLT's professional standards standing committee, and Ms Maria Gleeson-Cary, speech and language therapy manager; and from the Psychological Society of Ireland, Dr. Louise Higgins, senior clinical psychologist.

Occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and psychologists are responsible for a range of services and supports that have a material impact on the lives of autistic people and their families throughout their lives. The committee has heard from teachers, researchers and other professionals about difficulties that autistic people face in accessing these therapies. We have heard directly as a committee from parents about the difficulties they face on a daily and weekly basis. We have also heard from the HSE, which acknowledges that the lack of therapists across the 90-plus children’s disability network teams, CDNTs, and the significant number of more than 800 funded State jobs that are not filled within the CDNTs. We look forward to hearing from our witnesses about what services and supports could ideally be provided for autistic people. We would also like to hear how to remove any unnecessary barriers which may be preventing autistic persons from accessing these vital services and supports.

Before we hear from our witnesses, I propose that we publish their opening statements on the committee's website. Is that agreed? Agreed. I call Mr. Allen, chief executive, to make his opening statement on behalf of the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland.