Ms Lorraine Dempsey:

Certain cohorts of children normally have inputs from physiotherapists, access to social and indoor play areas and opportunities to use and develop their gross motor skills, which is what we have been talking about. All of those services closed in March along with their preschools. The opportunities for them to develop have been very restricted, mainly to their own homes. Children with physical disabilities require a lot of therapy input and assistance with equipment, including splints and seating assessments. Where possible, in emergency cases the HSE and HSE-funded bodies have tried to respond to that with PPE and major precautions. However, for the most part there have been massive delays in interventions to support the physical development of children. Playgrounds have been closed and there has been a 2 km travel restriction, which has impacted heavily on the ability of families to utilise what is around them in the community outside of their home setting to bring on children's gross motor skills development. It is not rocket science when a therapist explains the things that parents can do, but if they do not have wraparound services and are isolated it is extremely hard to know how they can support their children.