Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their evidence and the Chair for facilitating me.

I have some questions that are probably more for Mr. Smyth and Mr. Noble. The ombudsman's report is out of date because when it was published, the HSE had admitted that 554 health and social care professionals, comprising various therapists so vital for children's development, including physiotherapists, psychologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and so forth, were involved in Covid-19 swabbing and contact tracing. The majority of these staff were involved in swabbing in the community, which could have been carried out by other medical professionals and nurses who had responded to the Be On Call for Ireland initiative but had not been recruited. In my own part of the country, three quarters of the speech and language therapists in counties Roscommon and Galway were involved in contact tracing and testing. Before the lockdown there was a four-year waiting list for access to speech and language therapy and occupational therapy in those counties and I believe they have now increased. What feedback have the witnesses received about the impact of Covid-19 on the delays? Will it compound the problem? What specific measures can be taken? When a preschool child is referred for speech and language services, for example, that support will not be forthcoming until after he or she receives his or her first holy communion, which is an unacceptable situation.