Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All of us are aware parents are at breaking point. There is no question about it. I have spoken to many parents in my area. The lack of services and the effect this has on children has affected the parents. We are inclined to speak about Covid and bring everything back to it. This is unacceptable. I met with representatives of CHO 5 recently and I had a very good discussion on the serious concerns I am addressing for parents. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, I hear one thing from her and another thing from CHO 5. With regard to funding and resource planning, will the Minister of State and the HSE discuss how demographic change will be addressed and how the current gaps in the service provision will be tackled to meet the demographic and unmet needs? There is a very big issue that needs to be addressed.

Will the Minister of State and the HSE discuss how they will work collaboratively to provide a service that enables meaningful early intervention to be applied consistently and enables it to include respite intervention?

One of the areas I feel has been totally neglected is respite, in particular overnight respite. I know Covid was a concern in that regard. In Carlow, and also in Wexford, some day respite is being provided and I believe that is working well. It is important that we get more information on that. It is good that at least there is some support as we need to address the challenges.

It is important that there is joined-up thinking, which I do not believe is the case at present. I will give an example. I am working with a lot of families at the moment, but I will not highlight one. I am working with families where the children urgently need an adaptation grant for a bathroom. I went to the council with the families and an occupational therapist was sent out, but the decision was that the grant would not be provided. The families in question then got a private occupational therapist to do a report, which was sent to the council. In one case the private occupational therapist said the child needed a bathroom adaptation grant. However, the council said it was not within its remit. It says "No". I cannot understand how we have a system that is so broken that there is no joined-up thinking at all. The only ones who are suffering are the beautiful children. That is a concern for me. I have met so many parents, as all of us here have. We are all very passionate about this because we know the effect it has had on children and their families, yet we do not seem to be resolving it.

I want to get an update on the waiting lists across all the therapies and the plan for the elimination of waiting lists and early intervention. What is the HSE's plan going forward? I regularly work with the Minister of State, and she has always come back to me and done the best she could. However, I feel we have no planning going forward. We cannot tell a parent what the plan is, show where the money will be invested or say they will get their services. I am working with parents who are waiting to have their child assessed for a school place but, again, there is a two-year waiting list. Therefore, the child could miss out on a place in school. That is absolute neglect. I know we can make all the apologies we want, but at the end of the day we must make sure that we look after the children that need help. We must also remember their families that are so stressed and tormented about their children. We are trying to work with them. Going forward, I want to know what is the plan for the Minister and the HSE so that we can go back to the parents and say we are going to find solutions here. There is funding and we just need to have common sense. Sometimes I believe common sense is not being applied. In terms of joined-up thinking with the various stakeholders, everybody must be working in unison to make sure that services are being provided, whether that is a bathroom adaptation grant or a sensory room, which is another significant issue that arises. Children need sensory rooms. Reports exist saying they need them. We must ensure that children with a disability who need a sensory room or bathroom adaptation grant get them, but they seem to be falling through the cracks. I would welcome some answers to those questions.