Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My first question is on the presentation this morning on family-centred practice and the briefing document the committee received. The content of the document mirrors what members heard from Triple P and Parents Plus. From talking to parents, it appears that many of them are not getting that sort of support. I hear of the CDNTs offering online courses on different issues but I hear from parents that these courses are very general and not specific to their children.

Every child is different. There might be some issues that are common to a number of children and they could be done as a group. Working with families and identifying priorities for their child does not seem to be happening. Is that going to be expanded because it seems that it has a proven track record of working? Is that different from family forums?. Are they two different things? Those forums do not seem to have been established in many areas and parents are waiting because they want to have more say with the CDNTs.

On recruitment I want clarification on one issue. People who train for speech and language therapy in the UK are missing an aspect of training that is required for registration here. At a meeting last July the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Anne Rabbite, said it was no longer an issue, and that there would be on-the-job training. I cannot remember if it was at this committee or the autism committee because I am on both and there are overlaps. I know it was early July when she stated this but when I mentioned it at an Oireachtas health forum meeting with the HSE in CHO 1 they were not aware of it. They said it was very important and had already put in place training places to do the on-the-job training. Can I have clarification on whether that is actually happening?

There are still significant delays with registration with CORU and it is not adequately resourced. More disciplines have to register but they are not getting the increased staff. If we know that is causing a problem why have they not been properly resourced?

It was said here that assessment of need is not necessary to get services. I do not understand how one knows what services a child needs if they are not assessed. Even with the preliminary team assessment that was being carried out prior to the court ruling last March, parents whose children underwent that were still not getting services anyway. That was the biggest problem with that. It appears that they were either being put on a list for a more complex assessment or they were being put on a list for services but they were not getting it either. For example, children with Down's syndrome do not require an assessment of need. It is fairly obvious what the issue is and that they will need speech and language, occupational and physical therapy but they are not getting these services.

Regarding my own area of Cavan-Monaghan, I have a question about the CNDT team. I am told that the whole-time equivalent is 26.4 for Cavan and 26.3 for Monaghan and there are 10.6 and 10.14 vacancies, so very similar figures. When I talk to parents they are surprised at the 26 staff complement in Cavan because they can only count about 14 professionals. Are clerical administrative staff and cleaning staff included in this figure?