The Home Youth Liaison Service, HYLS, has been helping young people and families in Sligo and Leitrim since 1989. The difficulties young people face often become identifiable in school through behaviour or academic performance but the root cause of the difficulty is rarely seen in school alone. It can originate at home and affect a young person's life there and within the wider society.

The HYLS takes an holistic approach to a young person's difficulties. It is a one-stop shop for services. Support does not begin and end at the school gate or at the beginning and end of the school day. The service is a genuinely wraparound service offering an immediate and integrated response with the objective of improving and enhancing the life and future outcomes of the young person who uses the service. I know this because I worked in the service for 17 years.

I can attest to the wonderful work it provides on the ground and the need for it.

The autism support worker role came about as part of a needs-based response in conjunction with the work of the Sligo Leitrim Children and Young People’s Services Committee, CYPSC, and the HYLS. It was specifically developed because there was a need to support young people with autism.

Since 2024, the autism support worker has been offering social, academic, behavioural and communication supports, as well as practical supports, to young people with autism at the times of their lives when they need them most. I refer to times of transition, such as moving into exam years and leaving school. Young people themselves identify these times as when they require support the most.

This service is valuable, worthwhile and sought after. The numbers prove this. In its first year of operation, the service supported 36 young people with autism in Sligo. By March of this year, in a period of just three months, a total of 68 referrals had been received by the service, along with a further 40 initial inquiries. The fact that the majority of these referrals were made by the schools themselves or by Tusla demonstrates the value of what the service offers. It is appreciated by those who work with young people, the young people themselves, their parents, the schools and other organisations that work for and support young people.

On the matter of professional engagement, both the children’s disability network team and the HSE, including the child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, are making referrals to the service, as are Foróige and young people themselves. It is a clear indication of the work the HYLS does on the ground. Given the success of the service, Sligo and Leitrim sought funding to have the post extended. It has been extended until the end of 2026. Also sought was the creation of a new post, for six months, in Leitrim. That has happened, so the service is really grateful. Performance indicators show the measurable impact of the work straight away. The impact can be seen in attendance patterns and engagement with all personnel working in schools. Providing the support to young people in school has a very tangible, measurable impact.

It has been proven that the engagement of the autism support worker by the HYLS has been effective. It has been effective, particularly for a vulnerable group of young people, as the Minister of State will know from her role. I ask that the required commitment be made. I know from working in the voluntary and community sector – we spoke about this during the youth work debate – that it is very hard for youth workers, social care workers or anyone working with annual funding to plan for future needs. Therefore, they are looking for a commitment for an additional year. They are not looking for long-term multi-annual funding yet. The service is looking for a full commitment to the effect that both of the posts will be funded and supported for 2026. This would mean a total annual cost of €125,000, which, for the service the staff provide, is a drop in the ocean.

I thank Senator Cosgrove for raising this important issue and giving us all the opportunity to commend the fantastic work happening on the ground. The service is absolutely amazing. We need many more such services across the country. I thank the Senator for the role she played in working with the service before becoming a Member of this House.

I, as Minister of State with responsibility for disability, alongside my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, remain fully committed to providing the necessary supports for children and young people with disabilities and their families throughout the country, including in Sligo and Leitrim.

In 2023, through its own consultation process, Sligo and Leitrim CYPSC identified that for young autistic people, there are poor transition support processes in place in terms of education, training and employment, as the Senator said herself. In response to this, on foot of significant collective planning and resource gathering by Sligo Leitrim CYPSC and the HYLS, an autism support officer was employed in May 2024 with the specific purpose of supporting autistic young people on a pilot basis.

Through its local funding programmes, which supported the local partners, Sligo Leitrim CYPSC put in place and evaluated this project. The project itself was developed to test and to evaluate the model with a view to then making a business case for funding and to mainstream the service. An evaluation of the project was completed and formally launched in December just gone.

It was launched to review the impact of the approach and the model of working. As the Senator said, it is a clear affirmation of the work being done on the ground. That evaluation report has recommended the project's expansion as a model of good practice and sets out the funding needs to expand the service. This would require mainstream funding to be identified because the existing funding resources available through the local partners will not be able to sustain the overall project in the long term. Recurring funding therefore, is required to secure, sustain and expand the service across the Sligo-Leitrim area. The HSE West and North West disability service met with the Sligo and Leitrim children and young people's services committee and the home youth liaison service in March of this year. The HSE service sought feedback on the home youth liaison service's autism support service from the CDNTs, primary care services and child and adolescent mental health services in the Sligo-Leitrim area, with feedback being overwhelmingly positive. The annual recurring funding requirement being sought by the home youth liaison service to sustain the autism support service and to expand same to all secondary schools in the Sligo area via the recruitment of a second autism support officer is €125,000. It has been agreed with the national HSE access and integration team that once-off funding of €78,125 will be used to support the service to the end of this year and that funding can be provided from within an identified allocation in the 2026 national service plan. This also includes the recruitment of a second autism support officer for the second half of this year. Arrangements are currently under way to have the required contractual arrangement between the HSE and the HYLS put in place in order to have the once-off 2026 funding drawn down by the home youth liaison service.

Further to a meeting of all parties on 13 April arrangements to progress the funding allocation will be progressed between the HSE West and North West disability services with the Sligo and Leitrim CYPSC co-ordinator and the HYLS manager. This will happen in the coming weeks. Consideration for further recurring funding for 2027 would be subject to the Estimates process and a new application funding form would therefore need to be submitted by the home youth liaison service

I thank the Minister of State. Before Senator Cosgrove responds, I want to welcome Rehins National School from County Mayo, guests of the Minister, Deputy Calleary. He was in just a few minutes ago and he asked that the teachers would ensure that students would not have any homework for the rest of the week, so they might consider that. The Minister said he would put in a word to make sure that happened. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their visit.

I thank the Minister of State for recognising the wonderful work. It is outstanding and I am not just saying that because I worked there for so long but it is an incredible service. Like any service that operates on a yearly basis, it is very hard to plan. I understand that there will be Estimates and the fact that the CYPSC co-ordinator is liaising with HSE and the HYLS manager. It is all very positive and I welcome the fact that the Minister of State has recognised the impact it has. I just want to quote what people have said. One parent talked of the confusion immediately after their child received a diagnosis of autism. "We were left without knowing who to turn to, what to do, where to go, and the autism support officer changed all that." Another spoke of being given a listening ear which, "left me with a feeling of being understood as a parent." Another parent said, "He now has friends, he's got like-minded peers, feels accepted, and even chats to them on the phone." These are not isolated comments. Every parent just wants to make sure that their child is happy in school. Not only is this life changing for the young person and their family, it is also cost-effective in the long run. Everyone wants to enjoy school and the longer people are supported to stay in school adds to the success rate they can go on to when they finish school. I am sorry for going over time but multi-annual funding is definitely the key to ensure that these services are fully supported.

I fully agree and I totally understand that it is difficult for the service to plan going forward. However, those are the constraints under which we operate.

I can totally understand that it is difficult for the service to plan but those are the constraints we operate under. I pay tribute to everybody doing such incredible work. The Sligo-Leitrim autism support service consists of a universal referral system. It consists of weekly one-to-one support which is tailored to each young person and his or her individual needs and aspirations. It enhances personal and social development, and encourages integration into education and training. It assists young people with navigating challenges and bridges the gaps in services. To use the Senator's phrase, challenges do not end at the end of the school day or at the school gates, so the service is really important in bridging that gap for families. Of course, it also provides for onward referrals.

There are some really good statistics in terms of the 36 young autistic people who are listed as active on the service's books. Seven young people's cases have been closed as their needs were met, which is really important. I found it particularly interesting that the majority of young people engaged in the service peaked at key stages of transition in their school lives, specifically from second year to third year, the transfer to leaving certificate, and the transfer on to further education and training after leaving school. That is what we want. We want examples of programmes that are really effective during these key transition points. We know that is where the pinch points often are for families and for the young people themselves. I commend the service and thank the Senator for raising it in the Seanad today.