Departmental Programmes
Dail Éireann — 2025-11-26
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Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP), Dún Laoghaire

David and Nicole have a five-year-old son with autism, and an older son. They live in a maisonette, which is 29 sq. m. It is absolutely tiny and rank with damp. Because of his autism, their son has serious sensory processing issues. He is a flight risk. I know these flats well. They have very dangerous concrete steps, which are a serious risk to him. Occupational therapists, medical professionals and people in school have said that he has to be got out of there as he cannot develop or do his occupational therapy if he is living in these conditions. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council says autism is too prevalent in the community to give it medical priority. That is outrageous. The prevalence of a condition is not a reason to say it is not a priority if the child is in danger. If a child is in danger, it is a priority to get the child out of danger.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-11-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:22+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-26