Lack of progress on accessing disability services criticised

Almost two years on after local councillors invited parents of children attending Cootehill's Holy Family School to hear their concerns over the lack of services for young adults graduating, little has changed, and families are still forced to fight to access supports locally.

The realisation that the now former Fine Gael Councillor Peter McVitty's motion has passed such a significant passage of time shocked many in the chamber.

Mr McVitty, who lost his seat in last June's local elections, subsequently fumed at what he perceived to be a snub by then Minister of State at the Department of Health and at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, to a letter send by elected members.

Calling for better services for children and adults with disabilities in Cavan, a letter was also sent to former Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly regarding the lack of available respite care in the locality.

At the February monthly meeting of Cavan County Council, the mantle laid out by Mr McVitty in the past was picked up by Fianna Fáil's Philip Brady.

He tabled a motion demanding the improved services for children with additional needs, and “particularly for appropriate therapies”.

He told the meeting, held at The Lavey Inn, that parents are exhausted by the effort of chasing down every and any avenue that might provide additional support for their child in their development.

“Parents are emotionally frustrated. They're drained.”

The continued worry that children with additional needs are being “left behind”, and delays in providing supports such as speech and language, or extended breaks between appointments and therapies only serve to exacerbate the problem.

“We should be ashamed as a society that we're letting this happen,” he railed, referencing one family with a child with Down Syndrome. Aged six years, they've only had two therapy sessions for the child to date.

A start to dealing with the problem, he feels, would be to bring workers contracted by Enable Ireland up to the same level of pay as their HSE counterparts in the same roles.

The motion was supported by Fine Gael's Winston Bennett, who gave a emotional account of the fight his family has had accessing supports over the years for his now adult son, Clive.

He highlighted Mr McVitty's motion from two years previous, and how letters had been sent, which seemingly fell on deaf ears.

Cllr Bennett stated that the facilities are available, but there wasn't enough people available to staff the roles.

“We were talking about this 10 years ago, more even,” he said.

There was support too from Fianna Fáil's Áine Smith, who recalled it was her first council meeting during which Mr McVitty tabled his motion.

She said that “early intervention is crucial”.

With her boys, Cllr Smith said she was lucky to be able to access support privately. There were ultimately no issues, but Cllr Smith acknowledged that there are many families across the country who simply cannot afford to go the private route.

She feels that there should in future be a “collaborative approach” to dealing with children with additional needs, bringing together the wealth of expertise shared between the Department of Health but also Education.

Cllr Smith would like to see a scenario whereby specialists in speech and language and also occupational therapy work with schools in identifying students in need of such supports. Such a scheme could even be extended to pre-school in terms, and work of Special Needs Assistants could be expanded further.

“Children with additional needs should be looked after first,” said Cllr Smith.

'Disgrace'

Her party colleague Patricia Walsh, meanwhile, branded a “disgrace” the waiting times for young children and adults in accessing services under the HSE's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Cathaoirleach T.P. O'Reilly responded to the input of his fellow councillors, saying that if letters were sent to ministerial offices that it was important they be chased up for reply.

“We have to keep beating the drum on this,” said Cllr O'Reilly. “At this stage everyone knows someone with a child with additional needs. Early intervention is key.”