The Labour Party spokesman on disability and equality Seán Sherlock has appealed to the Minister of State for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte to intervene to ensure that 48 children attending a special school at Carrigaline in Co Cork get access to overnight respite care.
The families of children involved say this has left them in crisis.
Liam is also on medication for ADHD.
The HSE says there are 27 overnight respite places in Cork city and county, but 10 of these places have been "supressed or suspended" because of staff shortages, leaving just 17 beds.
Those beds are operated by traditional service providers, such as Cope Foundation and Brothers of Charity Services.
Both Cope Foundation and Brothers of Charity Services also have special schools of their own under their patronage and they say children attending those schools are already filling all of their respite places.
In the Dáil today, Seán Sherlock TD said Julie Anne Cunneen and her son, Liam, and the other families with children attending Carrigaline Community Special School desperately needed access to overnight respite services as a matter of urgency.
"There are only 17 respite beds in Cork today," Mr Sherlock said.
"We want the Minister to end the discrimination and segregation that these families face on a daily basis.
"We want people like Liam and Julie Anne not to be locked out of services anymore."
Julie Anne Cunneen's case was highlighted on RTÉ News at the weekend.
In a number of reports, she detailed being beaten and assaulted regularly by Liam.
Read more: Mother feels 'invisible' as son can't access respite care
She said she had begged the HSE for access to overnight respite care and she said, over the past 16 years, Liam has never had respite.
Mr Sherlock said four risk assessments had been conducted in the case of Julie Anne and Liam Cunneen.
"The language in the risk assessment I quoted represents only the tip of the iceberg concerning the number of incidents that have occurred within the household," Mr Sherlock told the Dáil.
"How did we get to a stage at which alarm bells did not go off in the HSE indicating an emergency intervention should be made for the family?
"This mother loves her son. She loves him to bits. It is absolute desperation that forces her to take these measures to air what are very private family matters in the public domain."
Minister Rabbitte said she listened with "frustration" to the RTÉ News reports referring to Julie Anne Cunneen and and her son Liam and the fact that there were 10 respite beds "supressed" in Cork due to staffing shortages.
"My understanding is that there should be no idle beds when we have families in crisis," Minister Rabbitte told the Dáil.
She said she had written to the HSE suggesting that agency nursing staff are employed to re-open those 10 beds until traditional service providers in the area are allowed the funding to operate those beds themselves.
"Whatever rate needs to be paid, they (the 10 beds) need to be stood up at that rate," Minister Rabbitte said.
"The HSE knows the ask and they need to deliver on that."
RTÉ News has contacted the HSE for a response to Julie Anne and Liam Cunneen's case, and for a response to Minister Rabbitte's comments.
Read more: Cork families 'left in crisis' over lack of child overnight respite services
