Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I do not know whether the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, meant to give the impression that everything is okay - perhaps she did not mean to use that tone - but it certainly sounded like it. It came across as if we should not look to the Government but rather look away. The reality on the ground for so many parents and children is a very different experience. I understand that both Ministers of State are working within a pandemic crisis, which is not an easy set of circumstances to respond to. It was already a crisis, however, before the pandemic emerged. That is down to the failure of all the previous Governments, comprising Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party, during the austerity years, when these services were not properly funded. We started, therefore, from 100 miles back, rather than being on an even keel to allow us to respond to the pandemic crisis.

I recently tabled a few parliamentary questions, before the HSE cyberattack took place. I asked the Minister for Health to outline the wait times for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services in community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7 for Dublin 12, an area that takes in Dublin 6W, 12 and 24. The reply stated that under the current service structure, HSE Dublin south-west receives referrals for the area in general, which are not divided into postal code areas. It outlined the current wait times for school-age team services provided by the HSE in south-west Dublin. For children aged under four months, the number waiting was 38; for those aged between four and eight months, it was 60; for those aged between eight and 12 months, it was 94; for those aged between 12 and 18 months, it was 29; for those aged between 18 and 24 months, it was 40; while for those aged more than 24 months, it was 299.

I also submitted a question regarding speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services in the CHO 7 area. The response stated that since March 2020, the Dublin south, Kildare and west Wicklow CHO has been responding to a national pandemic that presented numerous challenges for staff and services. It went on to state that the scale of the response included community testing, Covid-19 assessment hubs, residential unit support and, more recently, the vaccination programme, and that the Department’s involvement in the pandemic response had resulted in increased waiting list times for the community in regard to acute services. It stated that the waiting lists were longer than the Department would like in terms of being responsive to the needs of its service users. The reply outlined that in regard to speech and language therapy for children under the age of four months, there were 177 on the waiting list; for those aged between four and eight months, 152; for those aged between eight and 12 months, 213; and for those aged more than 12 months, 627.

In occupational therapy services, the number of those aged under four months who were waiting was 307; for those aged between four and eight months, 53; for those aged between eight and 12 months, 29; and for those aged more than 12 months, 719. Similarly, in the case of psychological services, the number of those aged under four months who were waiting was 72; for those aged between four and eight months, 18; for those aged between eight and 12 months, 24; and for those aged more than 12 months, 333. These figures are horrendous for the families living through this. During the pandemic, many resources for these services, such as therapists and so on, were redeployed for contact tracing and so on, so there was very little progress over that period.

The survey carried out by AsIAm was mentioned. It found that two thirds of the parents and guardians surveyed had to wait two years or more to receive an autism diagnosis for their child, while more than 50% felt very dissatisfied with the HSE support services for their autistic child. This is the reality. I received an email today from a young mother. She wrote that she was sending the email in response to a conversation we had earlier that day. She stated that, as I would be aware, she has three children of various ages with additional needs. Her eldest, who is 19 years old, has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, attention deficit disorder, dyspraxia and anxiety disorder, and was linked in with the Linn Dara CAMHS service at Cherry Orchard Hospital. The woman wrote that her daughter had been discharged last year after being referred to St. Martha's ward at St. James's Hospital with a view to the ward taking over her care, but this has not happened. The ward refuses to engage with the woman's daughter and has left her limbo with regard to her medication, with her GP stating that it was not within their remit to prescribe the medication as they are not a psychiatrist.

The woman's middle child is 13 years old and has been diagnosed with autism, dyspraxia and sensory disorder, and has not had a proper medication review in more than two years. She was supposed to be seen in March 2020 but Covid hit and her appointment was deferred, and to date she has not been seen. It is an autism-specific service. She did not meet the criteria for CAMHS, the Lucena Clinic or primary care. She has been referred to Beechpark Services in Tallaght, yet she has had no contact from that service. The woman's youngest child is two and a half years old and has been diagnosed with T21. She attends Crumlin and Tallaght hospitals for coronary heart disease and a heart problem called pulmonary vein stenosis. She was linked in with speech and language therapy and physiotherapy with St. John of God Hospital because she cannot speak or walk but has been discharged from both services, with no follow-up as yet. That is three children in one family, with the parents at their wits' end, and they have had little or no contact with the services over the past year and a half.

This has to stop. Last December, I listened to the contribution of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in which she stated that an interdepartmental committee on children with disabilities had been set up. It has to be made more accountable. It has to state publicly where the services are now, the number of therapists there are and the backlog we are dealing with, and it must report every two months on exactly how the services are being dealt with because these families cannot continue in this vein.

See this speech in context