Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I draw her attention to the comments made in response to the previous question with respect to cuts in disability. While I acknowledge a transformation is taking place within the sector, the object of the question concerns the issue of the 15,000 people on waiting lists for speech and language therapy. In Dublin alone there are 10,000 citizens waiting for speech and language therapy, and in the HSE South administrative area there are 3,171 people on the waiting list. We are moving from an existing system to a projected early intervention team, EIT, system, but we still have a crisis, particularly when it comes to occupational therapies. In the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster and Dublin North-East administrative areas, 4,000 children await occupational therapy. In the two Dublin administrative regions, 10,000 people await physiotherapy as we speak. How does the Minister of State intend to tackle these chronic waiting lists? This is a grave concern. We are in a process of transition. Obviously, what we are leaving behind us is not addressing the situation while we get to the point where EITs are up and running and fully resourced.

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