Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. While I welcome his reply, it is very similar to one I received six months ago from the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. The situation has certainly not improved. If anything, it has disimproved. Children in Tipperary are routinely obliged to wait up to 18 months and or two years for these assessments. I put it to the Minister that this is in breach of the law. This is not a regulation or a target. The Department and the HSE are in breach of the law. More importantly, they are denying young children with a disability an early diagnosis so that proper and specific services can be provided to them. I ask the Minister to follow up on this matter and to ensure that the HSE is adhering to the law rather than breaching it. I put the Minister on notice that I will raise this issue regularly in the future. The situation is simply unacceptable and unsustainable. The Minister must progress this matter in order to ensure that children are dealt with properly and speedily.

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