Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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First of all, I am from Cork and I heartily welcome all our guests here today. These testimonies are the most impactful for us. When people tell their personal stories, it allows us to internalise it and see how we can drive on with solutions, which is what the witnesses are ultimately looking for from politicians.

I listened carefully to Ms Moran when she spoke about the recruitment costs. The figure of €15 million was provided on foot of a parliamentary question I tabled. Imagine what one could do with that money for a lot of families. I know that sounds like a simplistic thing to say on my behalf, but the HSE is paying recruitment companies to hire people and they are clearly not hiring them. They are not doing what they are supposed to be doing and €15 million of taxpayers' money is being used when we could be providing the services for people. It seems from our guests' experience that bespoke solutions can be tailored locally, depending on where a person is living or what part of the country he or she is from, to provide the services.

I am always tabling parliamentary questions because that is the tool of our trade in this House. I refer to CHO 4 - forgive me for not including other parts of the country - because Cork and Kerry are represented at this meeting. Looking at the top-line figures for waiting lists for CHO 4, which is the Cork-Kerry region, the number of children waiting for an initial speech and language assessment is over 1,200 and for initial therapy the figure is 1,700 children. People with Down's syndrome obviously come into those categories as well. Similarly, there are more than 2,000 children waiting for further therapy in the Cork-Kerry region and we are spending €15 million on recruitment companies. It is easy for us to blame the HSE but, at some stage, there needs to be a shift in Government policy to take ownership of the recruitment piece.

What is screaming out to me, based on cases in my constituency of Cork East and it being confirmed here by the witnesses, is the number of people waiting for speech and language therapy. It is absolutely frightening. It upsets me if a child cannot communicate to a parent. I am a dad of three kids. One thing we all as parents work on assiduously is getting the child to communicate with us because we want to know how the child is feeling. If that service is denied to a parent, that is something we need to work on. Similarly, ophthalmology is another area coming up on my radar in a big way. The number of children in Cork and Kerry waiting for ophthalmology services is 3,200. Whatever about everything else and the other ancillary issues and therapies, the ability to see and talk are two key for any parent. What can I do in the Cork region, or in my constituency, to try to assist that process?

The variation in the experience of the parents coming out of Cork University Maternity Hospital, CUMH, with their child is phenomenal and actually frightening. That is not a reflection on individuals. It is that there is no system-wide approach. I would have thought there would be universality in terms of protocols being put in place for every baby born and, obviously, that is not the case. Very often, it depends on the midwife who picks up on things. We all know of very experienced midwives who know mothers and the pattern of births and so on and so forth and who are very perceptive. I have heard of situations where the midwife was the key person in assisting the parents in where they need to go.

My question is simple. Is there something I should be doing now, as a Deputy in the Cork area, such as contacting CUMH as a starting point for future and existing parents? Do I need to pick up the phone and speak to the chief officer of the Cork-Kerry area for instance, or wherever? Do I need to say that he or she needs to sit down with Down Syndrome Ireland and talk about what is happening in Cork, that we need to start looking at this from birth through to education and the transitions that Senator Seery Kearney mentioned? Is there something more that I as a public representative can do to push the door open for parents and act as an intermediary, an interlocutor, or an advocate in the Cork-Kerry region, and to say that little changes here and additional services there would make a world of difference? That is what I would like to hear from our guests. I would demand it and be very happy to do that.

Our guests have heard all the politicians and the platitudes. They have heard it all before a million times. Following this meeting - in deference to our colleagues from Carlow and Kilkenny - I would have no qualms from a Cork-Kerry point of view about picking up the phone to the chief officer in the HSE to say that we need to get a meeting and start talking about access to services. I would be very happy to do so. I am sorry if I am ranting on a little bit but the testimony of our guests is very compelling.