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

Good evening and welcome to the Minister of State and her staff. One issue that regularly comes up in our constituency offices is the CDNTs and the fact that PDS is not delivering. As was identified in the report and the Minister of State acknowledged, there are significant difficulties. She says the model of PDS is seen as the most effective. Has she looked at other models? Is there a possibility of tweaking that? Has she looked at what is happening in other countries? At the moment, it is not working. Maybe it would be if it was properly and fully staffed. The biggest issue is probably how long assessments of need take. We had this discussion earlier in the autism group. Who determines how long an assessment of need should be? As the Minister of State says, some of them done in the private sector only take about three hours. Have they been accepted by CDNTs in schools? If that is the case, is there a need for this 29- to 40-hour assessment? Maybe there is in some cases but maybe not.

Who is actually doing the assessments? Can we free up more therapists? There is a need to incentivise therapists to join CDNTs. Many opt to go into the private sector. It ends up being a vicious circle where the HSE is now paying private therapists to carry out services or assessments when they should actually be working in the public sector. The Minister of State talked about pay increases for section 39 staff. Where is that at? There is quite a significant pay disparity between section 39 and section 38 or the HSE. Until that is properly and fully addressed, I do not think there will be an end to that problem of staff leaving disability services, whether CDNTs or adult services. I see the Irish Wheelchair Association in Cavan is still not operating as it should be because of staff. Who are the staff in the six assessment hubs? Are they pulling from the same agencies, from primary care and CDNTs? We will not solve the problem if we are pulling staff from one sector to another.

The links with education have to be strengthened. The reason for so many assessments of need at the moment is to get access to an appropriate school placement. Schools are insisting on them. A diagnosis is not always needed for services but to get into a school. There has to be a better working relationship between the HSE and the community supports and schools.

Respite is still a significant issue. As the Minister of State knows, in my constituency, there is only one adult respite centre in Monaghan, one for children and adults in Cavan, and nothing else. We need a second one for children in Monaghan and possibly a second one in Cavan too. There is also the transport issue. The disabled drivers and passengers scheme is still too stringent. I know the Minister of State was chairing a transport group and a report was being done into that. Is anything coming from that? Are there any new models to replace the mobility allowance, the grants, and so on?