Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Byrne's final point.

I thank the Devlin family for coming before us and sharing their experiences. It is obvious that they are a very close family and very supportive of each other. They articulated the position extremely well and laid out clear solutions for the joint committee to address. They also highlighted the problems of accessing services and information.

Many of the issues I had intended to raise have been addressed. I will, however, raise a few points. Ms Devlin stated that waiting lists for admission and assessments are very long and add to the stress of a difficult situation. How long are the waiting lists?

Conor articulated his experiences extremely well and said he was very frustrated and constantly tired. How did he cope when he returned to school? Did he go back to school full-time or part-time? Was he provided with a special needs assistant? How did his friends cope with him and how did he cope with his friends?

Paul's presentation was excellent. We tend to forget how these types of trauma affect family members and Paul gave members a real sense of how his brother's experience affected him. Are there any specific services, for example, counselling or training, that should be made available to family members? Were such services provided to Paul?

When school authorities or special needs assistants request training to deal with students with acquired brain injury, are these requests met and how long does it take before such training or services are provided? Should training be provided to classmates of a child who has an acquired brain injury? Is any such training provided or is information given to classmates when a child is reintegrated in school after suffering a brain injury?

I thank the Devlin family again. We are all on the same page on this issue.