Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Deputy for this opportunity to lay out exactly what my plans are and to share them with the House. The funding I received through Sláintecare is being adequately used to address that backlog at this moment in time. Next week, at the Joint Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration, I plan to have all the figures to show exactly how the funding has been spent and how we are achieving that. I also plan to meet the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, next week to address the issue regarding the EPSEN Act. When we originally brought in the assessment of need tools, they were intended to address early intervention. The Deputy spoke about real families. We should have all our assessments of needs done before a child enters the school setting, where appropriate and possible. I want to move away from assessments and get to intervention. That is the conversation I want to have. I have a plan and we are working hard on it.

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