Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I am conscious of the clock but I can come back in on it. I appreciate Mr. Gloster's point and that is where I am coming from. I live in the area in the county with greatest concentration of section 39 organisations. I understand the age group we are talking about and particularly the parents of those individual service users. Again it comes back to services. During the summer an 11-year-old child was taken into care because the services were not provided. For nine months I sat in different meetings supporting the parent through dealing with the HSE but ultimately the supports that were promised were not given. It is now costing €37,000 a month to have that child in residential care. To be honest it probably need never have come to that if the supports had been put in place. I was really aghast. The section 12 order was issued with An Garda Síochána. The child was brought to the hospital and spent three days in hospital under 24-hour supervision. The HSE was able to put in round-the-clock care for the child just like that in an emergency situation. I do not want to be faced with emergency situations for anybody. It opened my eyes as to how it should have worked and how it ended up.

We can save money. I am very concerned that at the moment the budget of the HSE is heading for €25 billion - let us call a spade a spade - but there is another €25 billion to be spent if everything was done right. Looking at orthodontics and at the dental treatment scheme, none of those things are operating. There are 364 people in Wexford waiting for the home care support scheme. I am not laying this at Mr. Gloster's door. I will sit through the budget next Tuesday and the fanfare around the announcement will be unreal. Everybody will think they are getting something. It is something for everybody in the audience until it comes to delivery. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, or whichever Minister it will be - it could be the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly - will announce that millions of euro will be spent providing hours for the home care support scheme. These millions are never spent. If I have 364 people waiting on it who cannot get it what is the point in telling them they are eligible? We are doing nothing to cure it. It keeps going and keeps going. Those figures were there last year and are there this year.

The situation with orthodontics is particularly cruel for children who are of an age. I will just relay the experience from one such constituent of mine, as this is very important. Before I do, I must tell the witnesses that a serious number of children - 161 - are waiting over 60 months in Wexford alone. One example is an inexcusable delay. The constituent was deemed to need orthognathic treatment, which was to be followed by approximately 24 months of orthodontic treatment. He has been on the waiting list for orthodontic treatment since 3 August 2016, which is seven years. A treatment plan was discussed for this young chap a full year ago. It was this time last year when he was referred to a joint clinic. This month, through further representation in the offices of the HSE the patient was told that he had a further minimum of 12 months to wait. It is cruel. I need an answer as to why this is happening. What is the problem? Children with disabilities are waiting on anaesthetic treatment that can only be provided in the hospital: 60 children are under the age of 16; 94 are regarded as adults who are over the age of 16; and 101 who are just waiting for extractions under anaesthetic. This is collapsible level. I do not understand. If we have that much money in the system where has this gone wrong? This is not to mention the fact that we have no dentist in Wexford in the dental treatment scheme. I particularly want somebody to take up this discussion and meet the Irish Dental Association, IDA. it It is never going to get any better if there is no engagement. There must be engagement with the IDA. What is the answer to this?