Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her upfront appraisal of the failure of the assessments of needs, as well as the limited access to the wrap-around services that are needed after an AON. She said she listened in to this committee and she would have heard the ombudsman talking about a three-card trick and how he felt that children were being moved from list to list without getting adequate services. One issue that has been mentioned relates to the SOP. We heard last week from the Psychological Society of Ireland that a child may incorrectly be deemed not to have a disability as the disability is not evident or fully reported by parents or carers at the screening assessment. We also heard from the parents' group, Enough is Enough, and those parents are absolutely terrified that they may miss something that will delay their child's developmental needs and the services they need to develop. These parents are under enough pressure without adding any more. As they said last week, parents are not therapists. They are parents and they want the best for their children.

I will probably ask some questions that have been asked. Does the Minister of State think the SOP is adequate? Will it be reviewed or can it be suspended? She can correct me if I am wrong but she said that of the 1,798 assessments completed since June 2020, the vast majority were standard comprehensive assessments of need. If we have gotten that many done since June 2020, why do we need a standard operating procedure? If we are getting through them comprehensively, why are we putting parents under this pressure?

I want to touch on two more areas. This year, there were 691 investigations into complaints by parents to the HSE, under the Disability Act 2005, that their children did not get their assessment in a timely manner, and 634 of these were upheld. That is 92%, which is a damning indictment of the AON system. However, it is a good indication that the complaints system is working. That leads me to the second part of my question. Since late 2018, 115 cases have been taken to court by parents. Those parents had to go to court for an enforcement order for the assessment of need. Defending this system must cost the HSE a significant amount when it knows that 92% of the complaints are being upheld. Why is the HSE making parents who are already under enough pressure go to court to get enforcement orders instead of providing the services they need?

The Minister of State mentioned that the €7.8 million in Sláintecare money that is being AONs is time sensitive. Will that time run out? If the money is not used, can we get a guarantee that it will be ring-fenced and that it does not go back into a black hole of the HSE or some other area? If it is not used in time, will it still be there to be used for assessments of needs going forward?