Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Nobody wants any child to be waiting. That is why extra funding has been sourced and why there is a twin approach - for example, if the CDNT does not have the capacity or there are long waiters and the CDNT has not met its statutory requirements. We have to be honest that, in some cases, children have been waiting for up to two and a half years since the last backlog was cleared. It is incumbent on us to find whatever solution is available to ensure that. I talked to the head of disability, Bernard O'Regan, before today's meeting. Four years ago, when we had the Covid pandemic, we managed to clear the backlog of 6,500. There was a different environment at that time. Much of it was done online so a child could have had assessments online. It was part and parcel of it. People gave out that they were not able to support or see children in their environment of education so we have gone away from providing some of that assessment online, which can speed up the process. Some of our CDNT staff are deciding to leave and go into the private space, because they feel there is a more flexible option for them.