Mr. Liam Herrick:

I think this came up earlier. We will be very clear. The right to an assessment of need is fundamental and central. If there are difficulties with waiting lists and the historic lack of investment in the system, they need to be addressed. There is also a need for a right to services resulting from it. I draw the committee's attention to the fact that this is a matter in respect of which we have intervened in cases before the courts. A case went to the Court of Appeal in which we intervened as a friend of the court. It was found that the standard operating procedures used by the HSE where somebody might get an assessment of need but not have a diagnosis, where that was necessary and appropriate, was deficient and not consistent with existing rights and obligations. In our view, any question of diluting the right to assessment of need would be misplaced.