Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. Much of this meeting has been focused on waiting lists, statistics, legislation and the HSE's obligations not being met under the Disability Act. I want to humanise what the failure of children means to families. I want to address my points to Mr. Reid because the ultimate responsibility lies with him. I want to tell the story of Ava. Deputy Cullinane referred to the shame on society due to how we treat vulnerable children in this State. I spoke to Ava's mother, Elaine, earlier today to get permission to tell the story. Ava is a unique child but, unfortunately, her story is not unique. I could have gone to many people whose cases crossed my desk in recent years who were looking for support through the HSE for their children with disability. Ava is now eight years of age. She was referred for an assessment of need when she was three. She received the assessment when she was six, which was three years of a wait. She was in the system two years ago, but contrary to what was said earlier, that once you are in the system you get the care that you need, that is not the experience of Ava and many people and families that have contacted me over the years. After she got her assessment of need, Ava received a diagnosis of autism, sensory processing disorder, global language delay and receptive and expressive language disorder. The assessment of need stated clearly that the interventions she needed were psychology, speech and language, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. To date - this is where the shame comes in - Ava has received none of these interventions. I received a response from the HSE six days ago that stated that it is still not possible to tell me how long Ava will have to wait for each specific intervention. It is five years since she was referred to the HSE and two years after she received a diagnosis and a referral for intervention, but this young girl has still received nothing. Her mother reports that she is now regressing, to the point where she can no longer tie her shoelaces, which she was previously able to do. She has also started to self-harm and to express harm towards other people, specifically in her family.

I went through the reports and the responses from the HSE I got since I started trying to help Ava and her family over the years. The witnesses can throw SOPs, AONs, CDNTS, IFSPs, EITs and SATs at me all they want, but as the Ombudsman for Children said previously at this meeting, this is just a way of moving children from list to list without getting the necessary treatment. When will parents like Elaine be able to access the treatment and interventions the children desperately need in a timely manner? Does Mr. Reid find the situation that parents are going through acceptable? What assurances can he give parents that this will not continue going forward?