Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank all our guests for attending. I commend Cara not just on her recent efforts but her fight in general for her two brothers and all of the other children who are affected. I spoke to her dad outside Leinster House and explained that my background was in working with neurodiverse children and their families, so I am very aware of the struggles. I would love to hear her thoughts today.

We have this wave coming in what is already a huge problem. Looking at the children on the assessment of need list who will be permanently damaged and those who will not, is there a way we might be able to make a priority list on the waiting list? What I mean by that is some children are already within schools who are waiting for assessments of need but are accessing supports for perceived dyslexia, and people are already getting SNA and SET hours and engaging with NEPS while others waiting for assessments of need need an autism diagnosis to get into an autism class or special school. There were changes a number of years ago where the Government recognised that we were way behind on assessments of need, so we provide services before we get a diagnosis in some areas, and there are other cases where you need that diagnosis to get into an autism class or a special school. What is the witnesses’ thinking on prioritising the assessment of need waiting list for children who are currently not accessing services because of their delays?