Yesterday was World Autism Awareness Day. It cannot just have been another day of empty promises while families continue to struggle. Last night, families slept out for a second time, pleading for support. We must acknowledge their challenges every day. With this in mind, I acknowledge in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West there are 539 children who have waited for more than 12 months for their first contact with Balbriggan CDNT. This is the highest waiting time in CHO 9. I would imagine it is well up there in the country. We know children with needs benefit significantly from the access and inclusion model in early education up to two years before they enter primary school. Can these figures be used to inform the Department of Education when planning necessary supports, easing the transition and reducing the chaos of school places that we are seeing?

I thank the Deputy for the constructive suggestion. He is right, in that we have to get a hell of a lot better at planning. The sense of surprise when a child seeks to move in a moment of transition in his or her life is not acceptable. We need to break down the silos. We have established the Cabinet committee on disability. We met last week, or the week before last, and a number of decisions were made, including to put therapists back in schools, starting with special schools. I see a lot of frustration from parents who get a place for their child in school and think it is great and they have finally made some progress only to realise that is just the education part and they are still not able to get speech and language therapy, physiotherapy or occupational therapy.

That decision we made last week, on which the Minister for Education will shortly bring proposals to Cabinet, will allow the NCSE to hire therapists for schools, starting with special schools. That will make a difference. I know that no parent sleeps out at night if not for a very good reason. It speaks to their frustration and genuine worry. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, met with a number of parents in the group last Wednesday. I understand there was positive engagement on the issue and the Minister wants to meet the group again to discuss their concerns and how progress can be made.