Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their testimony and observations. There seems to be an extraordinary lack of consultation between the witnesses, parents' groups and advocacy groups. The assessment of needs process is failing our children and it is unforgivable that a child has to wait over two years for an assessment and then cannot get the necessary speech and language therapists.

The new standard operating procedure is designed to circumvent the provisions relating to the assessment of needs and the Disability Act in order to cut waiting lists. It seems to be a process designed to make things look better than they are and is obviously a political decision made by the health services. As professionals, the witnesses know that early assessment and intervention are absolutely key for a child who has certain needs. If those needs are not met, the child will lose out. The Government is breaking the law in the Disability Act and five or six individuals have taken the Government to the High Court in this context. The State is not delivering on legislation to help the children of this country.

Individuals often have to go into the private sector to see occupational therapists but this is very expensive and probably out of the reach of most people, yet they are forced to do it. I know of some families which have gone to excellent professionals in the private sector but cannot afford to keep going. The public service is supposed to be for children but it cannot deliver the service. Something is dramatically wrong. There is dysfunction in the service across the country when it does not meet children's needs. Do the witnesses believe the standard operating procedure is a way of cutting waiting lists relating to children in this country?