Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair. I welcome the Minister of State and the officials.

I suppose there are four different aspects that I will ask about. First, in relation to the EPSEN Act, as the Minister of State will be aware, the committee has recommended a review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN Act. I would appreciate any feedback or update in relation to any plans to review the Act and an indication of the timeframe involved. As the Minister will be aware, not all aspects of the Act were implemented. As opposed to implementing the remainder of it, because it is 19 years since it was put in place, we would need to look at that.

I am also interested in the action plan, which includes preparation of a working paper on respite provision, which is extremely important to the families who need it. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could advise us on the personalised budgets pilot. The evaluation of which would be good to know.

On assessments of need, it would be good to have an update on the current waiting list and the difference across geographical areas. In my area of CHO 7, it is tough working with families who need to have it. I appreciate that the Minister of State announced funding to accelerate an assessment of need waiting list initiative in May and to look at the possibility of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could give us an update on that. Is there any opportunity for parents who had to go privately and pay thousands of euro to apply retrospectively?

In the roadmap for service improvements, it was agreed that the HSE would set up six assessment hubs to streamline the assessment of need process. What is the current position in respect of those hubs?