Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a very disappointing complacency - almost a smugness - in the Taoiseach's response to issues of this kind. It is now standard practice and a mantra whereby the Taoiseach will just itemise what he sees as positives and so on but will not deal with the hard questions that are asked. If one asked the basic question about access to therapies for children, teenagers and indeed older people in any county in this country, the answer would be that they are appalling.

The Taoiseach did not respond at all to the figures I outlined there and the crisis in access to assessment of need as per the Disability Act and with regard to getting proper services in occupational therapy, speech, physiotherapy and much more. It is not a good story. We can describe many cases. For example, there is one involving parents of a four-year old child who was referred for assessment in 2015. The child was assessed 14 months later. That is criminal with regard to that child's potential development. Another child of seven years of age was referred in 2014 and the parents were told that no funding was available for services. Parents are being told by the services to complain. Another child, aged six, was aged two when diagnosis was applied for and four when diagnosed.

See this speech in context