Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I agree. I really appreciate that answer because I have not been able to get a Minister to answer me on that particular question. I think that is where we all lie. We are asking how many positions are unfilled, but even if they were filled, we still would not have a system that was fit for purpose. As to what Dr. Tamming said about an assessment of need not being required to access a service, every Minister says that but every parent and every school will tell a completely different story. That is something that needs to be addressed. I have no particular issue with an assessment of need if the means by which if it was done were changed and it was done on the basis of evidence and dealing with the stakeholders, particularly the OTs, SLTs and psychologists. I will throw that out there.

Dr. Tamming also mentioned the single point of access and the national access protocol. She spoke about the fact that there would need to be a real reorientation on staffing to deliver on that. We keep using these terms. What does Dr. Tamming think it would need to look like to deliver on that and how far are we from it at the moment?