Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All members who are present have contributed. Several points have been raised. The written submission provided states the level of services available in special schools varies widely. The witnesses have been upfront regarding the challenges that exist. Many of the discussions the committee has had relate to the issue of the level of services available depending on the area in which you live or your postcode. That is not acceptable. It is one of the big challenges for the committee and the witnesses to lead in trying to ensure there is fair and equitable provision and that each child has universal access, no matter what their challenges or the part of the country in which he or she lives. The traditional methods of delivering services are not fit for purpose going forward. It is vital that access is universal rather than anything else.

There is no doubt that, for children with additional needs who do not have family resources behind them, the services they should be accessing, such as occupational therapy and speech and language therapy, are simply not available on the public system at the moment. There are children going to special schools or other educational settings and who have not had sufficient access to services. They may have seen an occupational therapist or a speech and language therapist three or four times in the past 12 months. If a person had cancer and the treatment prescribed by the clinicians was to be administered three times a week or a month or whatever, that would be gone after hammer and tongs to ensure the service was delivered. The challenge we have in the context of assessments of need is the waiting list that exists and the frustration parents and young kids experience when trying to get an assessment of need. When the assessment of need is completed, there is almost an expectation that there would be services available for the kids from the public sector but that is not the case. Such services are certainly not universal. According to the statement submitted by the witnesses, the level of services available varies widely. It is not acceptable in 2021 that we have to admit that services for young kids vary widely depending on where the child lives.

Our guests have been frank and open in their discussion. There is a significant amount to be done. As we go into the next period, there was a significant amount of work done. I refer to the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in the context of securing the extra €100 million and the extra moneys found with regard to various aspects of it. We are going into a new budgetary term. The budget will be presented in four months or five months and the committee needs to advocate as strongly as it can. There is a need to be resourced on the side of the witnesses to identify the challenges facing us. We must accept that many kids who undergo an assessment of need at which a need is identified are depending on the public purse to provide services but that, for many of them, those services are not available. Many families in such a situation have contacted the offices of members and we try to scramble services on their behalf but the services are not there.

There is frustration among the service providers, the HSE, the therapists who are providing the therapy, the families and, most important, of the children who need it. We all have to work extremely hard to improve that service.

Would Mr. Morgan like to respond?