Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I say "Good morning" to our guests, particularly the Minister of State. Her passion for this subject and her grasp of the issues is always very heartening for the committee. There is another area I wish to ask about but I will first pick up on the issues raised by Deputy Cairns. I have a specific question in that regard. Examples have been given of people's lived experience. Every day when I drop off my children, I meet a mammy at the gates who really needs occupational therapy for her six-year-old boy. Obviously, she would prefer to receive it in the public system and can ill-afford to pay for it privately but she has been prepared to do so. She cannot find anybody in the Dublin area who will take on her child and is on a waiting list for a private occupational therapist in Naas. That is the reality of how difficult it is to find a person to do that kind of early intervention.

The Minister of State spoke about interaction with other Departments, including in the context of Housing for All. Has there been interaction with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and his Department on how we can open up that pipeline and ensure that we have suitably trained service providers? It seems that not only are those people not in the public system, they are not in the country.