Mr. Gerry Hone:

I thank the Senator for his question. There is no doubt but that responding to families where there are children with disabilities is a real challenge for us as an agency. Our systems are designed to assess where need exists for any family.

If disability is a need, we work closely with our colleagues in the HSE to try to address it and advocate for the child and family to get access to HSE services. We have often developed services jointly with the HSE. We have many co-funded placements for young people with disabilities that have been funded 50:50 with the HSE.

Where we run into difficulty is in the whole area of complex need, which could include a mild intellectual disability or a moderate learning disability. If we cannot reach a diagnosis on the HSE side, we are left to find services that are suitable for those young people and families. That is a real challenge for us. We purchase services where we can. We are working within the Department. I am a part of a vulnerable children's group in the Department that crosses the boundaries between us, the HSE and the Garda, to see how we can combine our resources to provide a joined-up and integrated response for those families rather than getting into rows with one another about who should be providing what.

Autism, and the lack of services in that area, is a particular problem for us around the country. I see a lot of referrals into the system that we struggle to provide services for. Those services do not exist consistently in different areas of the HSE to respond to that cohort. That is a particular challenge.