Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I acknowledge and recognise the investment the Government has put into this area. It is worth making the point again that this happened last March. I appreciate the Minister of State has met the parents. We have all, as public representatives, met parents who are caught up in this. It is an incredibly bureaucratic situation that it has taken until now for the need for a temporary person to fill the position to be recognised and for the process to be advanced to the point the Minister of State has outlined. The result of that delay is that 500 assessments are backlogged. I hope that on foot of the Minister of State's words today and what he has committed to there will be sufficient resources and effort by the HSE, when somebody comes into the position, to clear that backlog in a speedy and reasonable way. Each month is a month that is irreplaceably lost to the child and family. I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome his reply and the additional information he has supplied but I make the point that it is about resources. The HSE must support the filling of this post by providing the necessary resources to allow the backlog to be cleared.

It is incredibly disappointing when we know in advance what will happen if someone leaves a role like an assessment officer role. Effectively, it takes a year or perhaps nine months or so before the necessary action is taken to fill that post.

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