Mr. Mark Smyth:

Of course. I will start and my colleague can add to that. The preliminary team assessment will identify as a conclusion that the child has health needs and those health needs are to have further assessment to clarify what they are. As some of the other witnesses have noted, this is a box-ticking exercise . At the bottom of the form, the clinician will be asked whether the child has a disability, which puts the clinician in a position of not being able to answer that within the 90 minutes. The need is further assessment. The child, from the HSE's perspective under the spirit of the Disability Act, has had an assessment but the assessment has concluded that there is a need for further assessment.

As an example, I spoke to a colleague earlier. In their area, they had completed 26 PTAs within two weeks. The outcome of all 26 PTAs was that the children needed further assessment. The HSE has met its obligations legally under the Disability Act, but the children will now move on to waiting lists that currently range from three to five years. Once the flood of new cases come into that, however, those waiting lists will continue to grow.