Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to make a few comments and ask a few questions regarding the progressing disability model and the 91 new CDNTs. They were supposed to be established by the end of June. We are now being told that they will be established by the end of the year. I note that some are officially established, but that there are still delays in transferring information from one service to another. We have discussed the gaps' previous speakers have brought those up. A couple of issues have been being brought to my attention in respect of some CDNTs, specifically about parents being able to obtain an updated educational placement recommendation from their team. This is required for a child to enter a special class or to enrol in a unit in a secondary school. Most enrolments take place this month. They are being told by the CDNT that they will not receive this until January or February. I wonder if this could be dealt with. I am sure that this is just due to a staffing issue, but maybe it can be dealt with this year and, hopefully then, it will not arise again.

Many people are bringing up with me, as well as my own colleagues who are hearing this in their own constituencies as well, the issue of services and interventions not being provided. Instead, parents are being given training by, for example, speech and language therapists to help their children. Parents are not trained therapists. They are having major issues with this. They are being told that this is all they will get and that there will be no intervention for the child. I hope that down the line there will be invention and that a therapist will be provided. At the moment, the parents are being left and they are getting no assistance for the child. Parents are happy to take this course to assist the child, but the child needs professional help. Could the Minister of State deal with that?

Some would say that assessment of need is sufficient to identify the needs of the child and provide support. However, if a child wants to gain access to an autism unit, they need an official diagnosis of autism. They are being told that. If they do not have this diagnosis from the assessment of need process, where do they get it? Do they have to go down the line of paying privately? That option is not open to many people, even though they are being forced down that line anyway. In addition, some are receiving interventions but they are not receiving them on a regular basis. Someone compared this to going to the gym. You need to go on a regular basis. You need to go every week, or a few times a week. It is no good to go once a month. Perhaps the Minister of State could answer some of those questions. On the assessment of need, we were told that the backlog was only 500 in the summer; now it is 4,000. Could the Minister of State explain what that is about? How is that going to be dealt with?