Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I return to the parents' requests. I address my questions to Mr. McGrane. I heard three main requests. One was for a study on the children affected. We have debated that at some length and it sounds like progress can be made. The second request was for an investigation to be launched. Mr. McGrane may have indicated that that has been requested but it sounded more like a clinical conversation. Is an investigation into what has happened being launched, as has been requested?

My next question is on services. We have heard the parents' voices: "Never a month goes by without hospital or specialist appointments"; "I had to resign in 2016"; "Last December my daughter wanted to end her life"; "I have been stuck in a vicious cycle of guilt"; "The constant battling for services." It is clear that these parents are in a desperate situation and they should not be battling for services. The budgetary implications of helping them are tiny relative to the apparatus of the State. This is for a very small number of people and they are being spread all over the place.

Are the HSE and the Department acting as a matter of urgency to help these parents and their children? If so, critically when will the parents and their children see a difference in their lives in terms of the battles they are having on behalf of their children?