Ms Muireann McCleary:

There are differences across the country in regard to waiting lists. I would not know what exactly they are. We only know anecdotally. I do not want to go into it. We can all guess what the position is.

The Deputy also asked about what happens when people eventually get to see the speech and language therapist or the team about a prescription for an AAC device. Best practice would say that people should trial three different devices at least, or trial different devices and different supports so that they can be involved in choosing what best fits their need once the assessment has taken place and there is an identified pathway. One of the time-consuming aspects of this process arises when we look for loan devices for people to try out and see how they work with them. We approach companies, largely in the UK, to check when a device will be available and we work to that timeline. There can be a huge gap between when a person comes for an assessment and a device is recommended for loan. The timeline differs across the country. There is no national process for funding of devices so depending on where you live, the length of time it takes you to get that device is a geographical lottery. In March 2020, community-funded prescription guidelines on aids and appliances were launched by the HSE on foot of work that had been done over a large number of years. There was due to be a roadshow to provide guidelines around prescribing to clinicians but, unfortunately, momentum on that stopped with Covid-19 and it has not gathered momentum again. It would be a useful piece of work for clinicians around guidelines for prescribing. Unfortunately, even when something is prescribed, when it will be funded is at the behest of the local service and a person’s geographical location.