Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that there is some good news in that statement from the Minister of State. I acknowledge that he takes a personal interest in this situation as well. I want to be fair about that. We have had meetings about such issues and we will have more. The difficulty I have is that the parents of children with Down's syndrome in my county, and I can say the same for the parts of Galway that I represent, is that they are having much difficulty accessing occupational therapists, speech therapists and physiotherapists. Many parents are finding that they have to finance that provision themselves. It is causing much financial distress for those parents. It is an area that we have to examine in general. I say that because the Minister of State is well aware of the July provision situation and what happened in the courts not too long ago. I am sure that Minister of State will agree that the goal posts have changed and that we are going to have to take an overall look at this situation. I welcome the fact that we have some good news but we have a long way to go.

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