David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is one of the problems here. We have an Act which all of us signed and approved. It clearly sets out that a child is entitled to an assessment of need. Many children are not getting an assessment of need, as we know. AsIAm and other disability groups have published information on this. They have gone out to their members and done audits. A total of 79% of children who have an assessment of need do not have access to services. The point of the reporting, which is legally provided for in the Act, is that it enables the Minister to plan but I cannot get access to any of the reports. Will the Minister come back to the committee on why this is happening? Am I right that the number of reports is zero? If there are such reports, can we be furnished with them? This goes right to the heart of the disjointed element I am speaking about. It makes perfect sense. I am sure it will make perfect sense to the Minister. We have all of these assessments of need. We have children who have been assessed as needing services but cannot get access to them. The logic of the report is to have an aggregate view of what the need is so we can start planning and recruiting. That is not happening.