Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have submitted 12 written parliamentary questions since 11 October regarding issues such as assessment of needs, respite care, residential care etc. On each occasion the Minister concerned has informed me that, "The Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives." I have read that statement from the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, and I suppose when one repeats that mantra over and over, the words become sentiments and the sentiments must be true.

When a Wexford mother of two autistic boys wonders why her 12 year old son can get an assessment of need but his 16 year old brother cannot because he was born before a certain date, I am sure she would be delighted that the Government is committed to providing services and supports to people with disabilities. After the Minister kicks the question on to the HSE and it informs me that 1,035 out the 3,318 assessments of needs reported completed in 2015 were completed within the timeframes set out in the Disability Act 2005, I wonder whether the 69% of children who did not have their assessments carried out on time view this abject failure as the Government being committed to providing services and supports to people with disabilities. As for the 31% of children who had their assessments carried out on time, and after the State and the HSE recognised that there is a requirement for them, I wonder whether they are disappointed when they realise the HSE, in most cases, is not equipped to provide any or most of the recommendations arising from the assessment, or whether they think the Government is committed to providing these services and supports for people with disabilities. I do not think the parents of 60 service users in Wexford on the disability services residential care waiting list are happy.

Last Saturday a woman came up to me in a supermarket as she wanted to alert me to something. She had brought her son who has suicidal ideation to the child and adolescent mental health services in Wexford, in Slaney House. She was told that the clinical nurse phoned the mental health services to ask if they could be allowed to help the child. They were told "No" because they are not allowed deal with emergencies and the child psychiatrist was away. They had no choice but to send the child up to the general hospital. This was on the Monday and the child was there until Friday, screaming for help. The mother said the staff were brilliant but dealing with an incredibly difficult situation. The child was having an episode. Eventually a child psychiatrist came down from Dublin on the Friday. Come Friday week in the south of Wexford, no child or adolescent who presents with a mental health emergency will receive any health care services for the next two weeks because the child psychiatrist is going on holidays. The HSE has known about it for a long time and it still has not provided for putting anyone in place. This woman was not crying about her child. She said this is going to happen to others. The service is not in place.

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