Joan Freeman (Independent)
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I thank Senator Devine for swapping with me. I have a meeting at 3 p.m. so I will have to leave after this. It is good to see Dr. Muldoon again. I admire the work he and his team do. It is a very difficult area. It is difficult to listen to the sadness that exists.

I have a three-part question regarding Dr. Muldoon's capacity to handle these complaints. First, is 1,600 a large number? Given that there are over 1 million children in this country, that does not appear to be a massive figure. It is a terrible amount but I am surprised. One of the groups of people I deal with - I call them the warriors - are parents who have children in the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, system and in the disability services. There are 12,000 of them, so is 1,600 a big figure? Second, how does the Ombudsman for Children promote itself? Several people have contacted me in the past couple of months about certain difficulties. I am sorry that I keep forgetting to refer them to the Ombudsman for Children. Dr. Muldoon says that children know about him, but we need to get his name out to the parents to let them know he will handle these matters.

My final question relates to where there is a complaint about, for example, access to disability services. I am aware of a child who is waiting six years to be assessed. We believe he is on the autistic spectrum. If that complaint went to Dr. Muldoon's office, how quickly would it be resolved? Is it resolved more quickly because he is addressing it with the HSE or a disability service?