Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)

I wish a good morning to the witnesses and thank them for meeting us. I will not go back over questions that have already been asked by my colleagues. The exchanges to date have been informative.

I have a series of questions to run through. In his opening statement, the chief executive said the HSE had "come up short". Why is that the case?

On the Department of Health's short-term initiative to clear waiting lists, Mr. Gloster cited an absence of data. Why is there an absence of data? I note in the figures that €39 million is quoted for new developments and €49 million is available for demographic growth. Is that with a view to getting data together?

Moving to recruitment and barriers, I will say as feedback that a possible barrier to recruitment that was cited by a student who has moved abroad was the CORU fee of €500. That has been cited to me on more than one occasion. Do the witnesses understand that there will be competition with the new National Council for Special Education initiative to recruit therapists?

I represent the constituency of Meath East. I am seeking information, perhaps not now but in follow-up correspondence, if possible, on whole-time equivalent staff numbers, excluding CAMHS, for primary care and CDNTs in Meath. I believe there is a 50.1% staffing level currently, but I would like a breakdown of that information.

Excellent pilot schemes have been run previously in the area of speech and language therapy. Those included Tiny Talk and Talking Buddies. Several groups of parents have in recent years, using friends who are occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, primary school teachers, etc., run ad hoc meetings. The feedback from parents as of last Thursday night was that they would like to train, some in speech and language therapy and others in occupational therapy.

Is there the opportunity to partner with the University of Limerick for initiatives like that? For example, it has the partnering in occupational therapy telehealth services, POTTS, programme. Do these initiatives come under the €39 million in new development figures? It is excellent to hear about the single referral point and single doorway, whether it is general practice, the teacher or the family. When will that actually come in? Do we have a date for that?

Can the National Treatment Purchase Fund be used for families, who are extremely anxious and recognise that their child has complex needs? Can it be used for those who are financially distressed to purchase a private assessment? How are private assessments procured and from whom? The witnesses will be glad to hear that is it. I appreciate that I have raised specific Meath-related issues. I note the disability services manager has recently retired. A follow-up on that after today would be acceptable.