Mr. Mark Darmody:

I might come on in one point. As Cara said, she speaks for the 15,000 on the waiting list. With the greatest respect, I can tell the Senator that "give him and the Government time" does not wash when the Taoiseach said the same things - described the same plans - to us three years ago. He basically said the same things to us again two weeks ago. Families do not have time to wait. Our children are permanently damaged because of the waits that are talked about. It is not acceptable. It is not acceptable for the Taoiseach to break the law. We said all of this to his face, so we are not here talking behind his back. This has all been said. He accepts that he is breaking the law. He accepts it is not good enough. There is no one trying to defend this.

Why is it not being treated like a national emergency? That is the problem. We cannot give him time. That is why this list will go up. There is documentary evidence from the HSE that another 10,000 children will be permanently damaged. It is not acceptable to wait. He has to treat this like a national crisis and to say it is only words is not acceptable. No parent out there will think that is acceptable. Nobody in the disability community accepts that. We need urgent action.