Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to revert to the assessment of need and other issues. Previous speakers spoke about the complications presented by Covid, but it is my experience that this issue was prevalent long before the arrival of Covid. I have a letter I received from the HSE on 13 July this year concerning a constituent of mine. The case concerns a ten-year old boy who was referred to the child development team of the HSE in February 2016 by Enable Ireland. He received a diagnosis of developmental co-ordination disorder from Enable Therapy Services in August 2017. This young boy needs support from the child development team psychotherapy services. The case dates back to 2016. The information I received in July is that the current waiting time for psychotherapy intervention is extensive but the service would make contact with the family as soon as an appointment becomes available. You can imagine, Chairman, if you were the parent of that child and that is the clarification you received about a child who needed support from 2016.

This child also needs support from the occupational therapy service. Again, there is an acknowledgement that the child was referred to the child development team in 2016 and that he is currently on the occupational therapy waiting list for intervention. No date has been given, but there is an indication that there may be an appointment within the next three months. The child also needs to meet the psychology services staff. That goes back to September 2015 when a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was made. Since that time he has been on the waiting list for psychological services. He received the psychology input from the primary care team and received a psychology appointment with the child development team in 2017. He was then placed on a high-priority waiting list for individual psychological work but he is still waiting.

That is a scandalous legacy issue pertaining to a child with special needs and I know of countless other cases. My question is directed in particular to the representatives of Inclusion Ireland. Is that type of scenario particular to my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan or is it generally prevalent and is there any indication of exactly how many children are in that position? How many families are going through the traumatic ordeal of knowing that their child needs supports and is not able to get them?