Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I have no problem with that. While I know we will submit this matter to the HSE, we received an email from the Parliamentary Questions Office during the week indicating that responsibility for parliamentary questions about disability services has been transferred to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It may also be appropriate for us to contact that Department about the Darmody family and the other 18,000 people about the petition.

I agree with Deputy Buckley that there must be some mechanism. It is crazy. We have met the Darmody family. I do not know if Deputy Higgins has also met them but she has been up in that area. All of these families are entitled to have the assessments paid for but there is a major backlog. If a family pays for an assessment, it is not reimbursed. It must be possible to bring in a system. I know some families have borrowed money to have a child assessed and they are reimbursed down the line when the State accepts responsibility and admits it should pay for the assessment. It will pay at some stage but it could be two or three years down the road after a child is assessed.