Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Morgan. I will make one or two brief points, which are observations rather than questions. This is our third meeting on this topic, and all our witnesses have been very passionate about the issue. I am not sure if the witnesses had the opportunity to view the meeting with parents and representatives from advocacy groups. What people said was very powerful. As public representatives, we are all regularly contacted by parents who are trying to do their best by their children and really want to get these services.

Obviously, provision is falling down somewhere along the way. I appreciate that the witnesses have said they accept the report of the Ombudsman for Children and want to work with it. Reference was made to there being some level of consultation with people with lived experience but consultation must be broadened. There must be wider consultation with the people affected, perhaps including parents. The position might differ from CHO to CHO but speaking to people who have used the service is one of the key ways of getting things right. I say this because the experience can be overwhelming. Users are given a large amount of documentation. I cannot even imagine what the situation is like now with Covid-19 but we should not fool ourselves by saying Covid is the issue. There were issues with resources, funding and staffing before Covid.

The committee has no difficulty raising this issue when trying to advocate for additional resources. We need to know from the HSE that resources are being used adequately, there is good consultation with service users and parents and they are not being fobbed off. People say the service varies from region to region. In some areas it is excellent while it is not quite so good in others. We must try to replicate best practice in the areas where the system is working in other areas. I hope we will see better and wider consultation processes. I do not mean once-off consultations but monthly meetings with representative bodies to find out what is and is not working. It is not possible to beat that type of knowledge. I hope the witnesses will take that on board or perhaps they will comment on it now.

We want to have regular engagement with representatives of the HSE. I accept that is difficult at the moment because meetings are limited to two hours and witnesses may feel that they are being bombarded with questions. That is down to the time constraints we face as a result of Covid. We would welcome regular reports and documentation as it would allow the committee to examine areas where the system is falling down, give credit in areas where it is working and identify where best practice can be replicated. We cannot allow this situation to continue. It is failing our children and it is not acceptable in 2021 that we still have children falling through the cracks in this way. The committee would appreciate ongoing engagement and welcome regular reports.

I would like to hear the witnesses' views on broadening feedback and consultation for parents in order to genuinely take their views on board. The knowledge of people who have children in different services cannot be beaten. The HSE should welcome that knowledge rather than seeing it as something negative. I ask the witnesses to respond on any of those points or make any concluding remarks they may wish to make.