Dr. Niall Muldoon:

I thank the Deputy. We have clearly laid out that assessments of need are crucial to figuring out what children need to be the best they can possibly be and to allow them to thrive in life. That is what it is about. The legislation is there to insist a child gets an assessment of need but the most important step is to get services thereafter. The HSE has taken a certain interpretation that puts all the investment into assessments of need and services are not prioritised. We need to move in a new direction whereby children get access to services while being assessed.

My background is in psychology and I know you can meet a child and do good work with him or her, and through that work you can found out that the child needs X, Y or Z extra. We can move in that direction. That is why we have asked for reviews of the Education for Persons with Special Needs, EPSEN, Act and the Disability Act, in line with the Equality Act. We want those pieces of legislation to work together so we can find a better future for our children and allow for services to be provided to them. The Deputy will have heard many times from parents who have fought hard to get assessments of need. They hope that is the golden ticket but it is not. We want to get to a situation where the HSE is providing a service with a clear roadmap so that taking a particular action means other actions will also follow. At the moment, a service is being provided on the basis that only X is available, and Y and Z are forgotten about. That is not the way a child lives his or her life. It is not fair. From our point of view, and from a children's rights point of view, the HSE is abdicating its responsibility to take the whole child into consideration. I gave an example earlier. It is unacceptable that at this point, we are still waiting for a roadmap for how disability services will be properly rolled out.

The progressing disability services for children and young people, PDS, programme was in place for ten years. Somebody decided to force it through regardless of the clear legal objections to it and the possible constitutional issues. It was forced through without extra support, resources and manpower to make it happen properly. That is where we find ourselves now. Some 4,000 people are waiting for an assessment of need. The Department of Education is working on its side but we need the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to work together so we have a coherent approach. It means sitting down and looking at legislation and considering support for the services. The Deputy spoke about the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, system which is only 50% full. That needs to be planned for and that is what a roadmap should be. I have to do it in my business. The chief commissioner will have to plan for her business. She will do staff planning and priority planning. We need to find a way for the HSE, the Department of Health, the Department of Education and the Department of Children and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to work together to create a plan that is based on children's rights and the universal right to the best possible service. I hope my response helps the Deputy.