Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I also welcome the Minister of State as a former member of the committee. While we are on very friendly terms and I am conscious of not throwing any brickbats at her, I have some very direct questions. I think she will appreciate that.

I represent the area covered by community healthcare organisation, CHO, 4, which comprises Kerry, north Cork, north Lee and south Lee. Of the €7.8 million that was allocated for the 6,558 people, €1.1 million was allocated to CHO 4. The Minister of State said that as of 30 June, a total of 1,798 assessments of need have been completed over September to November, inclusive. Will she provide me with a breakdown of how this cuts across CHO 4? I ask because it is still not clear to me whether these assessments of need, which the Minister of State says are historical, are under the new SOP and are, therefore, under the 90-minute bracket. If the answer is that they are, then, given evidence that has come before the committee, I have serious concerns about that. The case for CHO 4 can be extrapolated to all the CHOs in the country. I need some words of comfort from the Minister of State for the families and children whom I represent so that they do not come back to me in a matter of months, having received the initial assessment of need, to say there has been no follow-up of services, or saying the assessment of need, as previous witnesses have suggested, is a sub-par method by any international standard of assessing a child with needs. That is the first reassurance I seek.