Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Under the programme for Government, developing an enhanced primary care system and improving waiting times, what effort has been made to recruit paediatric occupational therapists for primary care services in County Louth? Currently, we have only one part-time occupational therapist and in order to clear the sheer backlog that is there at present we would need eight full-time occupational therapists, and just to run a normal service, we would require four. Letters were sent out to parents across County Louth from the HSE stating that there would be a minimum 24 month waiting time before a child could be seen. A child has to wait over two years before he or she gets to receive occupational therapy. That is a shameful record for any Government but particularly a Government that has been in power for over seven years. What plans or active steps has the Taoiseach to rectify the shameful record of waiting times?

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