Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What the Minister of State is trying to do is obviously not working. If there has been an increase in the number of overdue assessments in the past six months, there is something wrong. I acknowledge that the numbers went down in 2018, but this year they are increasing, and that is just not good enough. The Minister of State spoke of the importance of early intervention, and it is hugely important, but without this diagnosis people cannot get early intervention. This is cruel and if there is no early intervention, it can have a detrimental effect on the child as he or she grows up. I ask the Minister of State to put something in place for these children and their parents. We must remember that behind every child affected are parents and siblings who are all going through this torture together. I therefore ask the Minister of State to do something to reduce the numbers on this list.

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