Vol. 315 No. 4
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins, to the House. Before I call on Senator McCarthy, I welcome the new Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Field, to Seanad Éireann.
I thank her for being here and congratulate her on her election last night as Deputy Lord Mayor. I heard some of the speeches made about her and her fantastic work in her community and now for the city of Dublin. I thank her for being in Seanad Éireann today. She is most welcome.
I thank the Minister of State for being her today to discuss something that is very important, especially to the people in the Gallery. Both the Minister of State and I appreciate that across our health and disability services there are dedicated professionals working every day to support children and families with additional needs. My purpose today is not to criticise those front-line staff but to be constructive and ask what more the Government can do to ensure autistic children receive the timely assessments, therapists and school places that they deserve.
My question is as straightforward as I put it. What immediate actions are being taken to reduce waiting times for autism assessments, to ensure therapies are delivered without years of delay and to provide sufficient special school places for children who need them?
Over recent weeks I have been looking into this and have been contacted by various people and parents. Even though their stories are different, there is a common thread and the pattern is the same across the board. I work with a chap called Ger and his seven-year-old son, Ethan, has autism and global development delay. Although his assessment of need was completed over two years ago, he has only received a handful of speech and language therapy sessions and his family has worked constructively with the services. They have attended all the meetings and they have sought solutions but they are still waiting for the interventions that are recommended in Ethan's assessment. They are not looking for special treatment; they simply want the supports the State has identified as necessary.
Another parent, Samantha, who is present in the Gallery, told me she was advised to expect a two-year wait for her daughter, Eva. Out of desperation she went to Lithuania where her daughter was assessed within weeks and began receiving immediate intervention. When they returned to Ireland, they found themselves waiting once again. No family should have to leave their own country to access basic supports for their child.
The Cathaoirleach has welcomed our Deputy Lord Mayor, Alison Field, into the building. Alison's son, James, is 12 years old and is non-verbal. His family knew there was something wrong when he was two years old yet they waited almost two years for an assessment of need instead of the six months required by law. After receiving that assessment, the early intervention service basically disappeared for them and James received just a handful of speech therapy sessions before being transferred to another team where, despite being non-verbal, he has received virtually no speech therapy for years. Alison has fought for a school place. In the early days she got 19 refusals before securing a place in an autism class. Now James is heading for secondary school but she has already received 18 refusals for an appropriate special school place this coming September.
What struck me most about Alison is that she went to the petitions committee, she was heard in Europe, and the NCSE here has known about James's predicament since he was five years old and knew he would need a secondary school place yet here we are going into July and there is none there. Families welcomed the introduction of the new national autism assessment protocol and it is a positive development. Protocols are great but they need to reduce the waiting lists. Children need clinicians, therapists and appropriate school places. It is not simply about the assessments. It is about the entire pathway and too often we are seeing children waiting years for an assessment across the board. The system seems to be fragmented and families are left trying to navigate it alone.
The parents - Alison and Samantha who are present and Ger who met me - are not asking for the impossible. They are asking for assessments of need to be completed within the legal timeframe of six months and timely access to therapies, respite supports when families need them and enough special school places so no child like James is left without an education. I look forward to hearing what measurable improvements we can bring and expect and when we can expect them.
Before the Minister of State replies, I remind Senators to be conscious when naming minors that it may or may not have implications in the future.
I was given permission, so I did check that.
I welcome Grace and Ciara from Mayo, who are the guests of Deputy Keira Keogh. I have no doubt Deputy Keogh is looking after them both. I also add my congratulations to Alison Field. It is a huge honour. I have no doubt she will represent Dublin with huge grace and determination. As the Cathaoirleach said, it is great to see her here.
I also welcome Deputy Keira Keogh and her visitors, Ciara and Grace. I welcome Samanta Augulytė. I welcome and congratulate the new Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin city and wish her a very successful year ahead.
I thank Senator McCarthy for raising this important issue. In many ways, what he has articulated here today is the need for different Departments to work collaboratively. He spoke about special education, health services, therapies and assessments of need through the Department of disability. I agree it is important that we break down silos and ensure that disability is a priority for every Department.
I am taking today's Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. I thank the Senator for raising this and for giving me, as the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, the opportunity to respond. Too often, children and families can face duplication across waiting lists, whether that is through delays in access to therapy or delays while awaiting assessment. Our aim must be to ensure that these assessments support timely access to care, rather than becoming a barrier to it. The Government is committed to improving access to health services for children and families, and to ensuring that care is delivered as early as possible, as close to home as possible, in line with the principles and goals of Sláintecare.
In May 2026, just last month, the HSE launched its autism assessment and intervention pathways protocol, which aligns with the new single point of access model. In short, it is a streamlined referral pathway for children and youth mental health services, designed to help ensure that children and young people are directed to the right support at the right time through a single co-ordinated entry point. This is to be used and adopted right across the health services, whether it is through the CDNT team, primary care or CAMHS. It represents a milestone in improving services for children and families as it provides a more direct and clearer path for children and their families to autism assessment through existing services. Taken together, the protocol, the single point of access approach and the introduction of the community care record will help create a more joined-up and consistent experience for children and families accessing our health services, while improving clarity, co-ordination and speed of access to assessment and supports.
To support the implementation of the autism protocol and improve service integration, new in-reach teams are being established, with 11 to be established this year and nine further teams next year. Those 20 teams will operate in each of the 20 regions. Recruitment to these in-reach teams will commence in quarter 3 of this year. The teams will be tasked with building capacity within existing services, supporting integration and improving the flow of client care. They will work collaboratively with primary care, disability and mental health teams to undertake those assessments and interventions, as appropriate. They will also be used to help address the issue of children waiting for autism assessments across the multiple waiting lists.
We often get complaints from parents that children might be on a waiting list in primary care, CAMHS or a CDNT, but when they get to the top of the waiting list, somebody says they are on the wrong waiting list, and they go back to the start. This is aimed at stopping that from happening, ensuring there is no wrong door and that every point of access to the health service is co-ordinated. In particular for those seeking an assessment for autism, it will ensure they are looked at in this way. It will be very beneficial. I was at the launch. It is very exciting, and we really expect it to reap rewards.
Challenges remain, however. Waiting lists and access times are too long, in particular, timely access to services, such as CDNT and primary care therapies, which remain a challenge across the country. To address this, the Department of Health and the Department of disability are currently working with the HSE on a focused programmatic approach to therapy waiting lists. This aims to put in place considerable standardised infrastructure to support systematic responses to waiting lists across the country.
I am conscious of time but I will come back in again.
I thank the Minister of State. I see from her reply that she is in agreement that the length of time people are left to wait is not acceptable. I thank her for agreeing with that. I often think of "a stitch in time saves nine". We need to ensure that people are getting timely support, otherwise, it reduces the effect of the help when it is given.
If a key phase of development early on in a child's life is missed, that will have an impact later on. The brain is highly adaptable in the first years of life. Early support maximises a child's potential and can dramatically alter long-term development trajectories.
I gave the example of Ali's son, who is non-verbal. Early supports are essential there. It cannot be left with the parents for a number of years. I thank the Minister of State for saying what she said but I think we can do so much better in this area and her reply outlines that.
Absolutely. Not only can we do better, we must do better in this area. This is maybe an opportunity to reference and thank the Committee on Disability Matters for its assistance in pre-legislative scrutiny of new reforms that we will introduce from an assessments of need perspective. On top of this, we are also recruiting for therapists to ensure we have enough people to be able to deliver the care that children like Eva, James and Ger's son require.
This past year, we have seen a reduction in wait lists at our children's disability network teams, CDNTs. They reduced quite substantially last year and our aim is to reduce them again this year, while also dealing with the backlog of children who are waiting on assessments of need. The autism protocol is complementary to that and that is a specific pathway for children who may require an autism diagnosis. Some 40% of children who come through an assessment of need are being diagnosed as autistic. This is about responding to that, making sure there are multiple pathways for all of the challenges that are out there and to ensure we can deliver to children who need therapies and assessments in a more timely fashion.
The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer is in next. Senator Murphy O'Mahony can fire away.
I thank the Minister of State for coming in today to take this Commencement matter. Being from Cork, I think he will agree with me about the shortage of taxis, particularly in big towns and cities.
I welcome the opportunity to raise the growing shortage of taxis across Ireland, a problem that is increasingly affecting public mobility, social inclusion, economic activity and accessibility in communities across the country. What was once an occasional inconvenience has become a persistent transport problem. Whether people are trying to attend a hospital appointment, get home from work, return safely after a night out or travel to a major event, they increasingly find that taxis are simply not available when they need them.
The figures are concerning. National Transport Authority data show that the number of taxi licences in operation fell from over 27,000 in 2019 to just over 26,000 in 2023, a reduction of more than 1,000 vehicles nationally. More significantly, licence numbers have fallen in 23 of the Twenty-six Counties since 2019, with some counties experiencing particularly sharp declines. These figures do not simply represent vehicles disappearing from the road; they represent people being left stranded and high and dry.
Every weekend, constituents tell us the same story. After social events, sporting fixtures and nights out, they face long waits, repeated app rejections or no available taxis at all. This raises serious road safety concerns.
We rightly encourage people not to drink and drive, yet in many towns and rural communities there is no reliable way to get home safely at night. The problem is especially visible during major events. Anyone who attended Zach Bryan’s concert in Cork or the ongoing concerts in Marlay Park or Malahide Castle will be familiar with the difficulties people face trying to get home afterwards. Concertgoers report long waits, extensive walks to find transport and exceptionally high fares driven by the scarcity of taxis. Some have even left events early due to concerns about being stranded. This is not just an inconvenience; it risks damaging Ireland’s reputation as a destination for tourism and major events such as those big concerts.
The consequences are even more serious for older people, people with disabilities and those attending medical appointments. Many people rely on taxis to access healthcare, particularly where public transport options are limited. For someone attending a hospital appointment, cancer treatment or a dialysis session access to a taxi is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
The economic impact is significant too. Hospitality businesses, pubs, restaurants and tourism operators report that customers are choosing to stay at home because they cannot rely on getting transport home. Rural businesses are particularly affected where alternative transport options are limited or often do not exist.
This issue has moved far beyond being a major inconvenience. It affects people’s ability to access healthcare, participate in social life, support local businesses and return home safely after events. It has a disproportionate impact on older people, people with disabilities, those living in rural communities and those without access to a private car.
I, therefore, ask the Minister of State to acknowledge that Ireland is facing a genuine taxi availability or non-availability crisis and to bring forward a comprehensive plan to increase taxi numbers nationwide. That plan should address barriers to entry for new drivers, incentives to attract and retain drivers, measures to improve rural coverage and solutions for major events where demand regularly overwhelms supply.
Before the Minister of State rises, I welcome Fr. Aquin Casey from Cobh and Sr. Carmel.
It is pronounced like "Aquinas".
Aquinas, that is right. I apologise to Fr. Casey for butchering his name. Fr. Casey and Sr. Carmel are guests of Deputy Noel McCarthy. I also welcome the members of the Ballyvolane Community Association group and Ballyphehane Day Care Centre, who are guests of Deputy Ken O'Flynn and the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin. They are all very welcome. I hope that they have a nice day.
I will have to bring the Acting Chair to Cork for some placename appreciation. I join with the Acting Chair in first welcoming Fr. Aquin Casey and Sr. Carmel. What the Acting Chair does not know is that Fr. Aquin was in my class in college. I also welcome the ladies from Ballyphehane Day Care Centre. It is a phenomenal centre in Cork city. It does huge work. I also welcome the ladies from Ballyvolane and the members from the Mayfield Chit Chat group. I have a number of past pupils in the group. All of the guests are very welcome - Corcaigh abú.
That is seeing as they are not playing football.
We will not mention football after last Saturday. We have the hurling next Sunday against Senator Murphy's team. I want to mention to Senator McCarthy to mind the front gate and keep it painted. It is very important. I welcome Fr. Aquin as well. He is a good friend of mine since 1984. It is a great day to be in the Seanad to welcome a great group from Cork. For anyone who has not been in Cork, the Ballyphehane Day Care Centre is a phenomenal place that does great work. As they also do in Mayfield. I taught in Ballyphehane and know the ladies well.
I thank the Senator for her very important topic. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. As the Senator knows, there is a big issue regarding rural transport in terms of connectivity. As the Minister of State with responsibility for rural transport, I am acutely aware of the needs that the Senator highlighted and I thank her for raising the matter.
As she knows, the Minister does not have day-to-day responsibility for taxis. It is the National Transport Authority, NTA. While the NTA has statutory responsibility for the regulation, licensing and enforcement of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, industry, taxi drivers are self-employed.
The Senator, however, is correct. The number of licensed SPSV drivers declined during Covid-19.
However, in the two-year period up to 2026, the number of taxi drivers increased by 12%, or 3,096, to 28,327. Senator Murphy O'Mahony is right that driver numbers were at their lowest in May 2022, and this presents a difficulty.
The Department is working with the NTA to ensure we improve accessibility, which the Senator rightly highlighted, and we have been making changes. We have been examining how to make it easier to operate a licensed vehicle. I will not give the historical figures because they are not important in this discussion. What is important are the valid points the Senator made.
The NTA has taken steps to support taxi drivers nationwide and to increase the number taxis available. We have extended the period that licences can rest in inactive status, that is, expired, from 12 months to 24 months. That is now a permanent situation. In addition, we have introduced a 9% increase in the national maximum taxi fare, which took effect from 1 December 2024, and we have also introduced the 2024 fares order, which is currently under review. This includes a special rate for the weekend peak, from Friday night into Saturday morning and Saturday night into Sunday morning. In addition, there are also grants available for SPSV operators looking to upgrade or purchase new vehicles. These are funded by the Department of Transport and administered by the NTA.
From a rural perspective, as the Senator correctly said, the NTA issues local area hackney, LAH, licences, where applicants can show there is a need, and this can be done as a part-time service. A resident of an area in respect of which the LAH licence is sought is not now required to undertake the industry knowledge or area knowledge tests that are normally required when applying for these licences. LAH drivers must be licensed but their vehicles, which are not required to be wheelchair accessible, must also be licensed and insured. In April of this year, we introduced new regulations to increase the uptake in this special licence category and to address a 2025 programme for Government commitment to collaborate with the NTA to improve local taxi service provision. There are new regulations allowing for up to five drivers to operate a licence. Second, licences will be granted where local communities can demonstrate a real need in transport that is not being adequately met. Also, the maximum licence period has been extended from three years to five years.
The Senator is right that there is a lacuna. We are working to address it and I look forward to working with her further to ensure we have more taxis and hackneys in rural areas in particular.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The old cliché "a lot done, a lot more to do" comes to mind. Will the Minister of State give me a rough timeframe for his plans going forward? I stress again the importance of people being able to get home. A lot of people are now suffering from mental health issues and they cannot even go on a night out, or even get into town to shop, because they are afraid of being stranded, particularly at night-time. While we encourage people not to drink and drive - obviously, it is not acceptable ever to do so - a lot of people are now walking home, which is very dangerous, especially on country roads. I would appreciate a timeframe.
In the context of a timeframe, the NTA is currently reviewing the dispatch licensing regulatory framework and it hopes to have new regulations prepared by quarter 4. As the Senator said, we have a lot done and we have more to do. We have given a variety of grants, through the NTA, to drivers looking to upgrade and purchase new vehicles. As I said on the local area hackney regulations, we have changed that model of delivery just this year. There is a whole new suite of proposals. We hope this will ensure more people will come into the industry and that we will have people being able to go to a concert or go out at night-time and avoid the temptation to drink and drive, which we cannot allow people to do.
We have seen an increase in the number of licences being granted and we are working to ensure the low numbers reached during Covid are increased. The bottom line is that it will take advocacy from people like the Senator, who has been a champion and leader in this area. It will take the Department, with the NTA, local councils and the hospitality sector, to drive this.
It is an important issue but we have made changes. It is also a business decision.
I hope we can get more people involved. I thank the Senator for raising the matter. I will work with her to ensure more road users avail of hackneys and taxis.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy. If Senator O'Loughlin is in agreement, we will take her Commencement matter in advance of that of Senator P. J. Murphy to allow the latter some time to prepare.
That is no problem at all. I am happy to do it.
Is that agreed? Agreed. I thank the Senator for facilitating us.
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to take this Commencement matter. The issue I raise is occurring in Newbridge, which is the town I live in, but I am very appreciative that it is an issue not just there but in many large urban areas and, indeed, in other towns in County Kildare. I refer to the urgent issue of youth antisocial behaviour. In recent weeks and months, we have been subject to the actions of what I can only describe as a gang of marauding youths, some of whom are as young as ten. It is very concerning to see boys of that age, and they are all boys, being part of a peer group that is constantly engaged in behaviour that includes vandalism, intimidation, harassment, shoplifting and egging cars and buildings.
It is particularly difficult for women walking on their own. They are being targeted. In recent times a woman with a small baby was targeted. I am aware of instances where they have gone into shops. There is a new small business open on Station Road at The Nook. They have robbed from it and harassed the shopowner there in the first few weeks of the business opening. They have also targeted delivery drivers and specific estates, particularly new estates close to the railway station. They have thrown stones and kicked in doors. In one commercial premises there were only some young ladies inside and some of them tried to force open a door. It is incredibly concerning. It has been escalating. The Garda has been very good and I have been liaising with it quite a bit. Two gardaí have been put on the beat constantly. That is certainly helping but the Garda is concerned, with its resources, that it will not be able to keep that up. One of my asks is that we look at having gardaí constantly on the beat. We also need plainclothes gardaí in particular around the Whitewater Shopping Centre and some of those areas which are a constant draw for these groups.
Is obviously not just about the gardaí. There needs to be a societal and a business response. A lot of the businesses have joined together in setting up their own WhatsApp group so they alert one another when there is particular negative behaviour and engagements. That is good to get out ahead. They contact the Garda as well. We need to look more at why this is happening. I would say some of it is down to bad parenting but not all of it. We need to see where society can step in and help parents in that case. We also need more youth outreach. Kildare County Council bought a premises for young people as a drop-in centre. We need something that will engage, particularly between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. when these young boys have left school and before they go home for dinner. We need a community-led response working with the local authorities and the Garda. I am interesting to hear what the Minister of State has to say about how we as a community can try to tackle this problem.
I am here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. I know the Senator has engaged directly with him on this issue. He is very aware of her concerns in this area. Unfortunately he cannot be here today.
The Government is committed to the principle that wherever they live in Ireland, people should feel safe. Building safe and secure communities across the country by investing in An Garda Síochána is a top priority for this Government. The Government wants every part of the country to be a safe space for people to live and work in. The Minister secured a record investment in budget 2026 of €2.74 billion for An Garda Síochána.
Antisocial behaviour is a broad term often used to describe a range of actions and behaviours that violate social norms in specific contexts. I am conscious of the very damaging impact, which the Senator clearly outlined in her contribution, it can have on our communities. Along with increased Garda recruitment and resources, the Government is taking a range of targeted and integrated measures to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour generally. They include introducing community safety partnerships around the country to develop community safety plans for every area, which touches on the point the Senator made about community involvement being central to tacking this. They also include continued expansion of youth justice and youth diversion measures to reduce youth offending and improve safety for everyone in the community. The budget allocation for youth justice measures has almost doubled from 2020 to 2026, with a significant allocation of €7.3 million in additional core Exchequer funding for youth justice measures announced as part of budget 2026, bringing the total allocation in this area to €43 million.
Strengthening the laws around antisocial behaviour orders enables swifter action by gardaí in such cases. The national roll-out and deployment of body-worn cameras for gardaí is also a very important part. Local community safety partnerships, LCSPs, bring together a broad range of relevant stakeholders, including local councillors, An Garda Síochána, local residents, community representatives, business and education representatives and a range of statutory agencies, including the HSE and Tusla in each local authority. The Minister recently appointed the membership of the final LCSP in Limerick on 9 June, meaning that all 36 of the partnerships are now formally established. Each LCSP will be required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan. The partnerships will take a strategic approach to their work, so that issues arising can be dealt with in a co-ordinated manner and addressed collectively by relevant service providers in partnership with the community.
While there has been an approximate 25% increase in the population of 12- to 17-year-olds over the past ten years, the number of children coming to the attention of the Garda national youth diversion bureau has remained steady, pointing to a reduction in youth offending. Between 2012 and 2022, there has been a drop in total criminal incidents involving children of 35%. There has been a reduction of 31% in the number of children in detention over the past ten years. With the official opening of the POINT youth diversion project in Tipperary on 18 June, youth diversion is available to all children and young people across the country. There are currently 92 youth diversion projects and 14 targeted youth diversion projects across the country. These are co-funded by the Department of justice and the European Union. With these funds, these projects employ dedicated youth justice workers who respond daily to the needs of young people across the country.
I appreciate that the Senator is talking specifically of the incidents she raised, but the national response is also being mirrored at local level. That is an indication of the seriousness with which this is taken by the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and myself.
I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge that the Minister came down to Newbridge at my invitation and met with local business owners, not specifically in relation to this issue but other antisocial behaviour that was happening. As a result of that, we got extra gardaí, which was important. We need to have more. I will say two things: it is good that there generally is a reduction in harmful and aggressive behaviour by young people and this is a tiny percentage. Most of the young people we have are wonderful young people who are great ambassadors for their towns. There is a concern in Newbridge that if there is a group of young boys, people automatically think that they are part of this marauding group. There is a concern for those who are completely innocent of this behaviour. That is part of it.
I welcome the local community safety partnerships. Oireachtas Members are not on it and cannot be members of it. That is a shame because we were members of the preceding partnerships. That was really important. We certainly need to put more into our youth diversion projects and into In Sync, which does a really good job in Newbridge. I visited it relatively recently. We need to support our local authorities in having those drop-in centres for young people where they learn respect, positive behaviour and that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable.
I thank the Senator very much. I totally agree with her. The key point she made was that not all young people are involved in antisocial behaviour. It is a minority of people who are involved in it. It is very much a matter of making sure that the resources are there from An Garda Síochána, the support services and the various stakeholders in the community to ensure that when this group, which is a small group, is committing the type of antisocial behaviour that can destroy a community a response is in place. The Senator said that the Minister was with her and down visiting.
The operational deployment of An Garda Síochána is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. I am, however, advised that at the end of May, from the latest data available, 533 gardaí of all ranks were assigned to the Carlow-Kildare division.
Of those, 435 were assigned to stations in County Kildare, with 59 members assigned to Newbridge station. The gardaí are supported by 64 civilian staff and 12 Garda reserves in this division. It should be noted that An Garda Síochána polices on a divisional basis rather than a station basis. The resources from across the division are utilised where required to provide a policing response. These resources are further supported by regional and national units, as required.
I will convey the Senator's remarks to the Minister, as I know the Senator will herself.
