Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I am conscious that parents of children with disabilities and those with disabilities ultimately find themselves fighting for every right and entitlement that they should be due.

There are a number of elements of the Minister's response that require further development, the first of which is that this protocol has recently been agreed. Obviously, up until now, the existing protocols were still in effect. When will that protocol take effect?

On the correspondence that existed, one of the quotes was "that service providers whilst following the Children First Guidelines are then unable to access child protection services due to an increase in the threshold level and criteria of the CFA framework as set by the CFA [Child and Family Agency]". It was to do with those guidelines and criteria that existed in that framework. The Minister responded that, "where required", these services were available. It seems to have been an issue that there were children who probably should have been considered to be requiring services that were not evaluated in this regard and were not considered to be required.

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