Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Muldoon and his team for coming in today and for the work they have done on their report. It is an important piece of work that brings together all the issues, stories and concerns of parents. It is a complex area for parents to try to navigate. It is an incredibly frustrating and worrying area for parents and I imagine many of them are appreciative of the work our guests have done and the light they have shone on the area.

There is a series of recommendations in the report. Has the Minister or the Department sat down with our guests to go through the recommendations in the report to see what progress can be made on them?

When one goes through the report, what stands out are the stories of the four children, the impacts on them and their families, and how long it went on for. The report states that Lucy is now 11 years of age and is still not receiving any of the clinical services assessed to meet her needs as a six-year-old. How difficult that must be for Lucy and her family. While Sarah's complaint to the HSE was upheld, she still has not received an assessment of need. Our guests brought the issue as far as a point where they could highlight those cases, but has anything happened for those children since our guests raised the matter? Do they think that the office of the ombudsman has enough power? It can highlight these sorts of things, but is there anything that would benefit the role and office of the ombudsman to try to bring these cases forward a bit more, rather than just highlighting them and leaving it to the Department or the Oireachtas to resolve?

A new system is being brought into play. I have been talking to many people in the area who are concerned about what it will mean for children accessing the correct resources for their needs and that it might be a tick-box exercise that will put everything for children on the long finger and further disadvantage them. What are our guests' feelings about the new system that is being brought in?