As parents across the country fear the rising costs of the back to school dates that are looming ahead, there are some parents who fear September even more. That is because over 200 children still do not have a school place on the last day in June for the coming September term. It was a privilege yesterday to be joined by parents, advocates, SNAs, teachers and young people for the debate on the Labour Party's Autism Bill 2022, which seeks to address the serious shortfall in provision for autistic people, both adults and children, who are simply without services. We heard words such as "hellish" and "a nightmare" used by parents when describing their experiences in securing services for their children. We have asked the Government to take urgent action on this.

We were glad the Bill was not opposed yesterday on Second Stage. What we want is what children and adults in other jurisdictions have as a matter of right, which is a national autism strategy to address provision in education, healthcare, employment and training. We see it in Northern Ireland under the Autism Act 2011, in England under the Autism Act 2009 and in Malta which has a national autism empowerment strategy. My colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, has been calling for this for some time. Indeed, over a year ago, Labour Party Deputies put forward a motion to introduce a national autism empowerment strategy. We were promised action on that within a year by the Government and we accepted that response. We waited for longer than a year but, regrettably, over a year on we are still hearing the same experiences and frustrations. We saw this frustration expressed in the report of the Ombudsman for Children, a damning report of Government failures in regard to children.

We do not believe that anybody in the Government thinks that a 36-month waiting list for an assessment or intervention is acceptable or that it is acceptable that over 15,000 children are being bussed out of their local communities to access an appropriate or acceptable education. We do not think it is acceptable that so many schools are lacking the wraparound additional supports that are needed to ensure a proper and adequate education for children with autism. In recent weeks we see news headlines still being dominated by a lack of provision and lack of school places. Worst of all, we see children who are still without a guarantee of a place in the autumn. I know the Government's legislation is to be debated tomorrow, but it is too little, too late for those children and their families. What we heard from the groups, advocates and parents who were with us yesterday in the Visitors Gallery was an urgent desire for the Government to take steps today to ensure that we are not back in the same place next year.

What timeline does the Government have to ensure we are not back in this position next year? What timeline does it have for addressing the serious shortfalls in provision for children and adults who are lacking the basic human rights they should have just because they are autistic? Why are we still failing those children and adults?

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue again. I emphasise that the Government is committed to ensuring that every child with special educational needs has access to an education. One child who does not have a school place is one child too many. We fundamentally believe that our most vulnerable children in society should be prioritised. That is why the Government is introducing new legislation this week.

The new Bill was approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday and it will ensure that adequate provision of special educational needs placements is available for the coming year. We have school placements for probably over 1 million children - those who have special needs and those who do not - this year in September, but there is a particular issue with approximately 100 children in the Dublin area for whom we do not have a place. We are determined to make sure that a place is made available, and not at the last moment in late August or September. We want to make sure that parents know they have a place for their child in the coming weeks. That is the timeline we are working towards. The new process will allow a ministerial direction to be served on a school within six to eight weeks of receiving a report from the NCSE setting out its opinion that there are insufficient schools in a certain area. Of course, we will endeavour to make sure that happens far more quickly.

With regard to Deputy Ó Ríordáin's Bill, we very much welcome it as an important contribution to the debate on these issues. I welcome the fact that the Labour Party is putting forward solutions. It was discussed in the Cabinet during the week and the Government decided not to oppose it. However, we are essentially doing what is proposed in it by developing our autism innovation strategy. Work on that is very much advanced.

The response is inadequate. It is simply not good enough that there are 100 children in Dublin alone who do not have a school place for this coming September. This is 30 June, the end of the school year. As I said, we heard yesterday from parents who are very frustrated. In some cases they have had to approach 18 or 25 schools simply to try to get a place for their child and were still unable to do so. Many parents in my constituency, Dublin Bay South, are at the end of their tether trying to secure places. There is a pinch point at every stage - transition to primary school, transition into secondary school and leaving secondary school and going to college or training. At all these points parents have to fight so hard that it becomes a consuming exercise in activism for many of them. They should not have to fight for what should be basic rights for their children and young adults who are simply not getting the recognition and support they require in the State.

We heard yesterday from the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, about the strategy she is developing, but it is not to be underpinned by legislation. That is simply not good enough. Will the Tánaiste commit to supporting our Bill and to ensuring there is a legislative basis for the strategy?

We can certainly give that some consideration, but different jurisdictions do things differently. It would not be the norm in Ireland, and it would not have been the norm when we were in government together, for a strategy to be underpinned by legislation. Different jurisdictions do things differently, but I certainly will not rule it out.

I absolutely agree with the Deputy on one point. It is wrong that parents have to fight and struggle for a place in school for their children. I met parents in Dublin 15 in my constituency who are in this position. We managed to resolve it in our constituency in the vast majority of cases and I think we will resolve it very shortly. There are things parents may have to fight for in life, but a place in a school should not be one of them. I totally agree with the Deputy in that regard.

In terms of the current position, I am told there are 80 children waiting for a place in a special class in Dublin who are not already in a mainstream setting. Recent weeks have resulted in eight primary schools saying they will open special classes in the new school year. This will reduce the number down to 56. Further engagement is happening with schools at present. That will continue intensively in the coming weeks with the intention of further reducing the number of children requiring a class placement. The NCSE advice is that there is an adequate supply of special classes and special school places outside Dublin at this time.