Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)

I thank the Minister of State and her departmental officials for meeting with us this morning. I will try not to overlap with colleagues. Two or three weeks ago, the committee met with the Disabled Persons Organisation Network and discussed co-creation of policy, interdepartmental collaboration, etc. Are there any plans to formalise the consultation process with DPOs and especially to resource them to carry out their work and enable them to be in a position to collaborate with the Department and other Departments?

I will list the questions I have. I may hop backwards and forwards between assessments of needs, CDNTs, etc., so I hope it will not be too confusing. The HSE produced a report in 2022. This may be something that is now conflicting with the hiring of therapists by the National Council for Special Education as well as the HSE. There is a limited pool of professionals. I understand the importance of accelerating that. How might that conflict, which was highlighted as a risk in 2022, be overcome? There is a suggestion to include collaboration with the education and training boards to support therapists. I know the training boards in Louth and Meath and Cavan and Monaghan, in particular, offer therapist-support courses. The possibility of work experience in the short term could be explored. I have tentatively begun the process in my own area involving Enable Ireland and Dunboyne College of Further Education. I hope we will have something that can commence in September if all parties agree. It is purely on a trial basis but I can update the Minister of State further.

Regarding assessment of need and Part 2 of the Act, what might the changes look like? How long is the process expected to take? As the Minister of State has identified, the section 38 and section 39 organisations all tell us that multi-annual funding is critical for future planning. Even though discussions on budget 2026 are at a very early stage, might I be so bold as to ask if there is white smoke in this area or any indication that the Minister of State could give us?

In the area of neurorehabilitation, some excellent work is being done by our third level colleges. I do not want to express any preference, but DCU is doing particular work in the area of robotics and the exoskeletal programme there. Is there any scope for collaboration with third level institutions? Access to technology would help with community rehabilitation.

While this may seem unrelated, some people from my county have experienced catastrophic accidents abroad. Might funding for repatriation of those people be a consideration? I will leave it at that to allow time. I have other questions but we might not get to them.