Ms Elaine Jenkins:

There was one point I wanted to make about the therapists who are leaving the HSE.

It is quite lucrative to do so because they now have very substantial private practices. Prices are increasing constantly and there are huge waiting lists for them. It is hard to see what motivation there is. However, we must refer back to families. In many families, one person, myself included, would have left work to become a carer. A person can start out with a two-income family to get the mortgage and then there is only one family income. This winter, there will be people who, if they are able to get private speech therapy, will have to ask if they pay for that or the gas bill. We have created an industry which is only detrimental to our families. We need to figure out how we get therapists back into the system so that families are not left with the burden of choosing what to pay for.