"A far more successful summer programme" for children with autism is now possible following the publication of a crucial report, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Fiianna Fáil TD Michael Moynihan congratulated the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism for its work in compiling the report which identifies a lack of school participation as a key problem - rather than a lack of funding.
The report highlights a variety of issues affecting the school summer programme for children with additional needs, and highlights those at risk of educational disadvantage.
"What was acceptable in the past is no longer acceptable," committee member Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said, adding that families need to be "respected so much more and at the centre of these solutions."
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Committee Chair Fine Gael Senator Micheál Carrigy said that they had met parents' groups and heard stories of "serious regression".
If there is a gap of two or three months in the routine over the summer, when children return to school in September "they've actually regressed seriously", he said.
Senator Carrigy said that funding has been put in place by the Government, and the number of places on the scheme has been expanded, but "in the main, the kids with the severe needs are actually not getting that school-based programme".
A key concern is the lack of staff, with fewer than a third of special schools - about 40 of the 130 - participating in the programme.
Speech and language and occupational therapy students could be employed for the summer, he said, as well as a significant number of retired teachers.
He also criticised the pay gap between teachers, who are paid €42 per hour, and Special Needs Assistants, who are paid €16 an hour.
Sinn Féin TD Pauline Tully urged that the report be implemented in January, as those who run the summer programme will generally start planning at the start of the year.
"We really have been listened to," one parent said, and thanked the committee for its work.
