Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt but that Covid has shone a bright light on the inefficiencies of the health service. Years of underinvestment and systemic mismanagement are there for all to see. Up to 21,000 children are waiting for occupational therapy, 9,000 children are waiting for psychology treatment and 4,000 children are waiting for an assessment of needs, while an astonishing 41,000 children are waiting for speech and language therapy. Successive Governments have failed these children. Children are being moved from list to list without getting the treatment they need. It is an old-fashioned three-card trick, a sleight of hand of Government policy. Children are missing out on lost opportunities while their developmental needs are not being met.

These waiting lists were here long before Covid. While it might not come under the Minister's remit, many of these children referred to are now not able now to access special needs education. These children are not only not getting their long-term developmental needs met but they are missing out on vital daily education and routines. We have heard from parents that some of these children are regressing instead of progressing.

I, like many others, was shocked to hear that some of the specialists providing the treatments in question were moved from delivering them to contact tracing and community swabbing. These children were again abandoned. Up to 72,000 people applied to Be On Call for Ireland. I was one of them. I wanted to volunteer my previous experience of working with those with mental health and addiction issues for the common good. I, like 72,000 others, was prepared to put my shoulder to the wheel and do my bit.

Out of these 72,000 applications, how many of these could have been or were used as contact tracers and community swabbers? Why was the decision made to use specialists who provide life-changing treatment for children instead of using the pool of applicants from the Be On Call for Ireland initiative? What other alternatives did the Government consider? Will the 75,000 children in question get the treatment they need any time soon?

See this speech in context