Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is all very positive. The fact that it will be in place by September will be music to the years of so many families. I congratulate the Minister for leading on this. It has been very successful at primary level. It was a stress-free and cost-free summer for many families, so this is a good outcome.

The media will speculate as to when the general election is going take place. What is certain, I hope, is that there is one more budget left in this Government. Maybe in October, the Minister might take the next step and extend the scheme to senior cycle. Taking that step should at least be in people's thought processes as we move into the spring.

I hope the Chairman will bear with me because what I am about to say is very relevant. Earlier, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, appeared before the Select Committee on Health to discuss his Department's Estimates.

I have been pursuing this issue for some time with the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and his Ministers of State. We are all familiar with the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF. It works very well for the adult population. Many people have had cataracts treated as well as varicose veins. I have looked at the terms of the NTPF, but not exhaustively. I cannot see why it could not be broadened a little bit and perhaps used to deal with some of the backlogs were are facing with the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, and with the child and adult mental health services, CAMHS, certainly from a diagnostic or initial assessment point of view. Therapeutic supports are different because they are continuous and one ideally needs to be receiving a therapeutic support nearby. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has pledged to look at it further. I believe it is a concept that at least should be looked at. I acknowledge that inroads are being made but it is one of those unusual scenarios where we have Department of Health functionality within the school context. It could be a potential game-changer if we could somehow, with private capacity, get some children assessed or on the pathway quicker. Perhaps some children could go to Northern Ireland if it meant getting them seen a lot quicker from the assessment and screening point of view.