Local parents and children with special needs demand urgent action

By Mary Dennehy

A PUBLIC demonstration calling for “urgent action” for children and adults with special needs will take to the streets of Tallaght on April 3 – and is being staged at a time when 140 local children are on a two-year waiting list for vital intervention services.

Rathcoole parent Sarah Jane Clarke sparked the public march, after a post she wrote on an autism parenting site, about how her son is being let down by the system and left living without intervention, inspired parents in similar situations – and the Enough is Enough campaign was formed.

Organised by local parents, the movement has now spread nationwide, with a series of marches taking place across the country at 10am on April 3. 

A petition calling on the Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, to take “urgent action” has also started in support of “the infants and young adults left on lists in every corner of the country, without intervention, therapy, assessments and care.”

One of the parents who came on board to organise the campaign is Tallaght mother Sharon Condron Melia, who has three children on the autism spectrum.

Sharon told The Echo: “There are no services for my children.

“My youngest, who is two years, is on a waiting list to get onto the early intervention waiting list, which is around 18 months long – so, by the time she actually gets called for early intervention services, she’ll be too old.

“My seven-year-old boy has never had any intervention.

“He goes to mainstream school with supports, but he has not received any services from the HSE – despite the HSE issuing me [back in 2015] with reports that say he needs speech and language, psychology and occupational therapies.”

She added: “Our children are simply being put on waiting lists to get onto waiting lists.

“There is a severe lack of services and no intervention, which is vital for children with special needs.”

Parents living locally have also criticised the lack of services at the HSE Chamber House in Tallaght, which is responsible for families living in the area of Dublin South West – and which was without a children’s case manager for more than a year.

When contacted by The Echo, a HSE spokeswoman confirmed that this position has now been filled.

She also confirmed that there are currently 173 children linked to Chamber House that are awaiting HSE early intervention and school-age services.

According to the spokeswoman, the waiting time for early intervention is eight months, with 33 children in the local catchment area currently on this list.

When asked about the wait time for children of school-going age, she said: “In relation to the school age team, currently the waiting time for that team is 24 months, there are 140 children on that list.

“This estimated time is based on current capacity levels within the teams, however, should the capacity of the teams increase or decrease from current levels it may impact on the waiting times.”

Families and members of the public are encouraged to support the two-hour Enough is Enough public demonstration on Monday, April 3, which will gather at Chamber House at 10am.

Sharon said: “Anybody who has two hours spare we would encourage them to join up with their local march.

“We need one strong voice for the future of all our children, and we need to come together in support of services and interventions being available and accessible for all children and young adults with special needs.”

For further details visit the March for our Children Facebook page or email sharonmelia46@gmail.com