Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I confirm that I am on the Leinster House campus. I thank the witnesses for coming in today. I want to return to the new system that is in place, the standard operating procedure.

I can understand the rationale for trying to get a quicker assessment. Reference was made to a rapid assessment and intervention for children. To go from 100 hours in some cases to 90 minutes represents an extreme difference in the level of assessment that children are getting. Clearly, 90 minutes is less than the time the HSE officials will be with us today. I have four children and I know how difficult it is to get any level of interaction with them if they are feeling uncomfortable or in an unusual situation. I imagine it would be very difficult for two clinicians to conduct the level of assessment that would be required and have a discussion with the parents in 90 minutes.

I know this has been raised and that other concerns have been raised. As previously stated, the Ombudsman for Children has said that he believed it would be difficult to do the work in a 90-minute period. The professional bodies have said it is not possible to complete an evidence-based assessment in 90 minutes.

There are questions as well regarding the legality of the new standard operating procedure under the Disability Act. It is not only the representatives of professional bodies who are saying this but the clinicians who are undertaking the work as well. Some 95% of psychologists believe that the current system is unfit for purpose. It is the same with occupational therapists. Some 92% of speech and language therapists who are conducting these assessments believe that is the case as well.

For me, it is difficult to understand where the discrepancies are. We have clinicians and experts saying this is not working and that it will not work for children. On the other side, the HSE representatives present are saying that it is fine and that 90 minutes will cover it. At this stage, we are over one year into the new system. I know we are in Covid-19 and things probably were not in place for a while, but the statistics and data should be available. How many preliminary team assessments have been completed? How many of those were inconclusive?