Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Despite that, it is frequent. There are foster carers who tell me that they have not had respite for years while fostering children who have profound needs related to autism. They also have not seen a social worker for years. Looking at parental supports, that is, prevention as opposed to cure, in her opening statement, Ms Duggan talked about the increased number of presentations Tusla is seeing. Did it ever dawn on her that there might be a solution through early intervention and that if we invested in early intervention at some point we might see the number of presentations reduce? I am not talking about IPAS presentations. I am talking about parental support for children who do not get accepted when referred to CAMHS to keep those children out of the mental health system. Without a mental health system, there is no healthcare system, but this does not appear to be on Tusla's radar.