Mr. Bernard O'Regan:

I will answer a couple of the questions then ask Dr. Connon to comment on one. Ms O'Kelly will address the question on Athy. I will not deal with them in order, if that is okay.

We are provided with funding each year to provide respite. Respite services were impacted during the couple of years of Covid because of capacity and infection prevention and control, but they are getting back to normal levels of service this year. We were also provided with funding to increase respite services in 2021 and 2022. Those services are either in place or are being put in place. We agreed with the CHOs and service providers that where funding was allocated, for example, as full-year funding for a new development which would not be in place until the second half of the year, it would still get full-year funding to provide alternative respite, including summer schemes and so on. That would mean the full resource was available to be used. It would be fair to say that there is a gap in respite services. It is better in some areas of the country than others for all kinds of historical reasons and due to funding streams at the time. We are trying to grow the respite capacity for both children and adults across the country. That takes time. In 2021, we were allocated funding for nine additional respite services, with one per CHO. That makes a difference within that CHO, but it is also just one service in a large catchment area. It takes a number of years to grow those services.

I will deal with the family forum and the group work as two separate issues. The family forum is the structure for us to engage with families so that they become part of the overall governance of children's services. We have always seen it as critical that the setting of a child's development goals should be done in partnership between the staff and the family. That should be replicated at all levels of the structure. The family forums are intended for us, at children's disability network team level, to engage with families who are connected to that service and to find a way to involve them in the service's governance.

Group work is a different focus. It is about providing supports to children and families. That is sometimes well done and sometimes best done in the context of group work. It is not an alternative to individual work and support that a child might need. There is not a change in the delivery of policy. In the absence of full staffing levels, with a depleted service, it looks like we are doing more group work than individual work, but it is not an either-or situation. Both types of work have merit. I can provide some feedback that we have received from families, not just direct feedback to the HSE, but also feedback to the lead agencies about how beneficial families have found that work to be. It is understandably frustrating for families if that is all that is on offer and there is not individual work to complement it. I acknowledge that.

Dr. Connon might comment on the assessment of need. A child or family absolutely do not need to have an assessment of need in order to access services. I communicate this often. We are happy to reiterate that again with regard to the system.