Dozens of autistic children left without assistance dogs

DOZENS of autistic children will not get specialist trained assistance dogs next year because of Government cutbacks.

The Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB) said it needs €1.5 million in 2010 to train another 40 assistance dogs for families of children with autism, like it did this year. The programme has been run from the organisation’s Cork headquarters since 2005, and received €500,000 from the Department of Education and Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in 2009.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe announced yesterday that he is allocating €150,000 to the centre for the programme to help children with autism next year, which IGDB chief executive Pádraig Mallon said will allow them to train three or four dogs under the programme.