Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am formulating my answer based on the Senator's questions because the questions are very well-founded. Sometimes as Minister of State, I am often found guilty of jumping into answer a question without thinking it through completely, and on this one I am thinking it through. PDS was formulated ten or 12 years ago but it finally became operational on my watch. The lead referred to by the Senator was the clinical lead at that time on the delivery of it. I remember at the time when it was coming to the final completion of it about a choice-based approach for parents. We have had this conversation before - closest to home or closest to school. At the time, the HSE would have said there was no choice, but when you went back to the foundation documents of it, which Noel Byrne did and read through, it was very clear that 12 years ago, the basis of it involved a choice involving closest to home or closest to school. You could choose where you accessed that service. Regarding the clinical piece referred to by the Senator, the risk assessment and the evidence base, I genuinely think we should have that answer. The new clinical lead within disability services is Dr. Rosie Gowran.