Dr. Maria O'Dwyer:

I would like to make two points. I thank Senator McGreehan for the question. I would like to add to what Mr. Chance said. The Senator will know from her own experience that while we worry about the delays in screening impacting the child and the long-term development, it also increases parental anxiety and stress. The most confident parents in the world, in particular first-time parents, need to be told that the baby is putting on weight, doing great and hitting the milestones. When that does not happen, it causes additional stress that parents do not need in an already fairly stressful time.

The second piece is the structural issue around the public health nursing system. We tend to take a generalist approach to nursing. We do not have dedicated child health nurses, similar to the UK model. In Ireland, there is the possibility for collaboration with the community mothers programme. It is about organisations stepping outside of themselves. We are very tightly bound in terms of our clinical and community public health provision. The community mothers programme has a 30-year history. The community-clinical partnership can support and fill in some of the voids during that critical time.

In terms of screening, more than half of all the babies during the pandemic are currently on a waiting list for a developmental check. That is a significant cohort of children. Home visit programmes such as the community mothers programme, preparing for life programme, parent child home programme and Lifestart can offer critical support a time when there is a gap in other services.