Ms Helen Holmes:

I thank the Deputy. We are fortunate and unfortunate in a way. Dublin 12 is split between two CDNTs, which means we can see the parallels because we have parents attending both CDNTs. Different issues, such as the messaging system, have arisen. I told others that I got a text to cancel an appointment and another parent was able to tell me she does not get any such thing. Instead that parent has to ring and confirm the appointment is going ahead. There are different strategies that depend on the CDNT in question. For want of a better term, there are strengths and weaknesses to both. One of the disability managers has been proactive and has held many meetings on Microsoft Teams and Zoom to update parents, which is great. There are, of course, some parents who will not get those updates because they do not have email addresses but word of mouth can spread. We can tell other parents to ring wherever they are attending to find out what is going on. My experience is that one of the CDNTs in my area is quite proactive in dealing with communications. It may be the case that the CDNT in question has employed an administrative assistant, which takes a lot of the pressure off.

We keep raising the issue. As I said, there is a group of parents who meet up. That is how we are able to inform and empower each other. I am able to tell parents during a session what is going on for my child in one place and someone else can say that is not the case with regard to another child. We are putting the onus back on parents and telling them they need to contact the disability manager or key worker and ask the questions as to why something is not happening.

We are eager to establish the family forum. At our most recent review with one of the disability managers, we were told it will be another four of five months before that forum is set up. There does not seem to have been any mention of it in the other CDNT. That said, we are sending emails to try to find out the situation and keep the pressure on. We need forums set up as soon as possible. Parents need somewhere to be able to feed back their own experiences of dealing with the services.