Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that it is realised major and radical change is needed in services, including the referral service. Ultimately, there must be services to which people can be referred. It is important to prioritise this issue.

Just to highlight the extent of how challenging and difficult it can be for families, in one case that was reported to me, the mother of a very disturbed teenage boy with an intellectual disability actually reported herself to the Child and Family Agency as a potential risk to her child. It highlights the measure of despair and desperation that any parent could feel that she felt she had to do this in search of services to help her and her family to cope.

We have all suffered in the recession - some more than others - and, hopefully, things will get better. For many of us, there will be a second chance and many people will recover, but for children with a disability, there will be no second chance. There is only a small window in their young lives where they will actually benefit from the therapies that could be made available to them. It is very important, even in these difficult times, that we prioritise this particular sector.

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