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

I welcome the work done by the HSE staff in this area but they will say themselves that because they have so many children to treat and are so understaffed that the visits are infrequent. It is viewed as piecemeal-type therapy. Those staff are not happy. I will give some figures to let the Minister of State realise what we are dealing with in the county. These figures come from a parliamentary question I tabled recently. The number of people waiting to access occupational therapy in adult services in County Roscommon is 196. The number of priority one cases waiting is 20, priority two is 176 and there is no priority three. The number of children waiting to access occupational therapy in County Roscommon at the moment is 226. The waiting periods range from 12 weeks minimum to 36 months. That is three years. It is a shameful situation and it is something we all have to rectify. I am sure that the Minister of State acknowledges that.

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