Professor Malcolm MacLachlan:

Deputy Joan Collins said that there was not light at the end of the tunnel. It is important to say that there definitely is light but the tunnel is way longer than we would like it to be. I do not think she is at all confused about things. She articulated how many interdependencies need to be addressed. Unfortunately, it not one quick fix that will get us to where we want to be in a couple of years' time. It will take longer than that. Overall, at HSE level there is an initiative to look at third level and design new approaches to health sector training. Specifically in the disability sector, for over a year the clinical programme has been advocating that there would be a particular initiative around health and social care professions, as Mr. O'Regan mentioned. For instance, you can have graduate entry into occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. People can graduate fully in a two-year span on a graduate-entry masters degree. That is a very short feed-in time in health. Even investing in those professions would make a significant difference, as well as the other health and social care professions. Importantly, when I was trained as a clinical psychologist I was trained to work almost independently whereas now we want people to come out ready to work in an interdisciplinary way, for instance, to work on children's disability network teams. There needs to be a very specific initiative around disability. We have been advocating for that in the HSE's overall approach to third level to make sure that there is a strong voice around disability. It is crucial that we put out the message that there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel because if we talk down disability, it will become less attractive for people to come in here. While we can in no way run away from the huge challenges we have, we need to create a virtuous circle that will attract more people to train and work in this area.