Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Amendments Nos. 65 and 66 seek to impose a time frame for commencement and completion of assessments and service statements including the arrangements to apply in urgent cases. Amendment No. 80 would apply to the services outlined in the service statement to require the services to be provided without undue delay. The question of establishing time limits for the assessment process is already covered in the legislation. Section 9(5) requires the assessment to commence within three months of the application and be completed without undue delay. As I stated on Committee Stage, this will be covered by regulation.

It would be unreasonable to require that every assessment would commence forthwith, as envisaged by Deputy Lynch. Section 21 allows for the making of regulations to govern the procedures for assessment including different time frames within which assessments should be made. It is envisaged that the regulations would establish different intervals for assessments, depending on the category of disability and age of the person. Such regulations would also allow for prioritisation of the assessment of urgent cases where warranted. This is adequately covered under the provision in the regulations.

Amendment No. 80 seems to be geared to require the services in the service statement to be provided without undue delay. The service statement is a document that will set out the services that can be delivered in any individual case and the timing of such provision. The content of the service statement will be dependent on available resources, eligibility and practicality, as well as the assessment report and standards to be put in place pursuant to section 10. Once prepared, every individual will have a right to the services outlined in the service statement. I believe this is a more rigorous way to provide for the services involved and in the circumstances I do not propose to accept these amendments.

Urgent cases will be taken into account in the roll-out of the legislation, its implementation and the way in which the regulations are drafted. I am confident there will be no delay for urgent cases, in particular for young children where early intervention is vital. To simply allow for immediate requirement for assessments would be practically impossible. When one considers that in many cases a number of professional therapists must be involved in the assessment, a lead-in time before commencement is necessary.

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