Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleagues, I will focus on the HSE and the way the health service is failing young people. They have cited figures for the numbers of children on waiting lists.

4 o’clock

I am conscious of the anxiety of parents who are waiting for their child's assessment. Those parents are gravely concerned that the waiting will make the resolution of their child's problems more difficult.

The waiting lists for children with suspected learning difficulties is frightening. Here, too, we have parents concerned that the difficulties are worsening while they cannot get a proper diagnosis.

An answer to a parliamentary question that I tabled recently stated there were 337 children in my county of Tipperary under 13 years of age waiting for orthodontic treatment - 102 waiting up to one year, 107 waiting up to two years, and 66 waiting up to three years or more. This is shocking. While these children are languishing on a waiting list, the damage that can be done to them for future years is impossible to comprehend. Dental experts explain that the longer they are left waiting, the harder it will be to put things right. The HSE should be far more active in the treatment abroad scheme. These children should be sent to Northern Ireland, if necessary, to get this treatment.

I have been fighting hard for a Jigsaw project in Tipperary. All the work has been done, including representatives of the local authority, and all that is missing is the funding. We have been promised this since I was elected to this House in 2016. A Jigsaw project would play a significant part in trying to deal with mental health issues for young people in my county. There is no mental health bed in my county, but to be refused the resources for a Jigsaw scheme is intolerable. If we got these resources, it would help to prevent some of the common tragedies within our community. I am looking for the Minister's support in calling for that funding for Tipperary.

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