Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

The Minister said regarding the weighted system that the rationale is that children will not have to wait for as long as previously. However, I conducted a survey last year that showed that one in four had been waiting for more than nine months to be assessed by NEPS despite, I imagine, the extra resources outside NEPS assessments, or the scheme of commissioning as the Minister terms it. Does the Minister know the current figure or how long the waiting list is? Does she agree that many of the delays were within NEPS or her Department and that it was not the fault of the children, their parents or, in many instances, the schools? The Minister says the delay is necessary for the weighted system, but that was within the control of her Department. Perhaps we should examine that before we consider other systems to resolve the matter.

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