Autism support dogs funding
Deputy Cahill says there is no funding for trained support dogs for children with severe autism and that families are left without even a waiting list. The Tánaiste says some organisations are funded already and asks for details so the matter can be followed up.
The HSE carried out a review of autism services in the recent past. I want to focus on one sector, namely, that relating to specialised training of dogs for children with severe autism. That sector is completely devoid of funding. There is not even a waiting list for families to get on at the moment to try to get a dog for a child who has severe autism. It is a sector for which funding should be provided. These dogs are a major help for those children who have severe autism. It represents a severe slight on us that we have not even got a waiting list for people to get on.
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This is an area with which I am somewhat familiar. There are organisations that receive Government funding and that provide support dogs for children with autism. If Deputy Cahill could send me the detail of the organisations that raised the matter with him, then maybe we can get back to him on that.