Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. I apologise for not being here for the first few minutes of the meeting. I have a couple of questions, one of which relates to consultation. We are in receipt of correspondence from speech and language therapists' representatives. We are informed that 8 September 2017 was reported as the date of the consultation, but their members have responded that notice of the meeting was very poorly communicated. Perhaps the witnesses can outline for us what notice, if any, they received. I can tell from the look on their faces that they did not get any. It might be helpful to explore what notice was given and what groups were consulted. If the witnesses were not consulted, do they have a view on why they might have been left out? Do they have a view on who the HSE selected? I refer, in particular, to the parents who I would have thought should have been central to any process, most especially those who bear the scars of having been through the system already. They may be best placed to comment on that and to have a very meaningful input. Perhaps the witnesses might offer a view as to why we seem to be hearing from people who were excluded entirely from the process. I am curious about that.

This question is addressed to the parents and the experts. Would the witnesses say there are particular problems or issues for first-time parents, parents who are living deprived in areas or parents are themselves experiencing deprivation? Is there a barrier? Reference was made to the golden window of opportunity and to the need to purchase services from the private sector. That is just not possible for some people. It is literally not possible. For those people and those children that golden window is presumably missed, and missed further by virtue of their socio-economic circumstances.

We are clearly 45.5 hours short of what would be considered average in terms of international best practice. Resources are always going to be an issue, but is there any international best practice the witnesses could cite that would back up this change in the standard operating procedures, SOPs? I am curious, because the more experts we talk to and the more we engage with parents who have been through this, the more we come back to the fact that there is no real understanding of how it operates or where it came from. Reference has been made to the issue of reconfiguration. There is a need to reconfigure the services, and I understand that the failure to do so is part of the reason why this SOP has not been introduced.

Two out of nine CHOs have multidisciplinary teams and everything works together. Is the new procedure being used in those areas? If so, is it working? Will it work in some areas but not in others?

My final question relates to the potential for a national screening assessment. There seems to be a postcode lottery in terms of access to services and outcomes etc. Would a national screening programme have any benefit? Are we anywhere close to getting the resources necessary for it and how would we need to change what we are doing in order to be able to deliver it?

We are getting mixed messages about the updated SOP. Is it being used in any areas at present? I understand the HSE believes it is not but I have heard it is being used in some areas.