Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not being here earlier; I was at a different committee meeting. I have read the opening statements. I do not want to go over questions that might have been asked so I will make more of a comment. It was depressing reading all the statements. It seems relentless. Every time people like the witnesses come in here, we feel we have such an uphill battle of unmet needs. We know that because we hear it continuously and speak to people. Every single day of the week we speak to people about their heartache and the torture involved. It is not only the job of looking after their child but the job of engaging with services. The toll, heartbreak and torture that puts on a family is incredible. Ms Whitmarsh spoke about the regression of her child during lockdown. Unfortunately, that is not unusual. It is an incredible shame that we are in this situation.

Something came onto my desk this week and I wanted to know if it is common. I am talking about letters coming from the HSE telling parents their child has been on a list and asking them to confirm whether the child should still be on that list. Tasking a parent with diagnosing or assessing their child is horrendous. To put that medical or professional job onto a parent - not that they are not capable - is uncalled for and it is happening over and over again.

There are so many blockages in the system. We need an entire shake-up. The system is not working because it is broken. There is no support for staff who want to shine. I know a person who was told to settle down when she asked if she could give free yoga classes to some of her clients in a different service because it might make other staff members look bad. That is horrendous. This is happening in our HSE system. I do not have much of a question but I just wanted to tell the witnesses that they have this committee's support. We listen to them and we are constantly depressed by what we hear and are pushed and urged to do more. Go raibh maith agaibh.