Dáil debates

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Mental Health Services

5:35 pm

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

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. The first quarterly HSE assessment of need report for 2021 indicates that as of 31 March 2021, the commencement of four assessments and the completion of 85 assessments were overdue in the Wexford area. Children who applied for an assessment of need after January 2020 will receive a preliminary team assessment. In some cases, these assessments will identify a requirement for a diagnostic autism spectrum disorder assessment. In the first quarter of 2021, 27 children in the south-east community healthcare area, which includes Wexford, were referred for follow-up assessments. This is the latest information available for individual counties in light of the recent cyberattack on the HSE's IT systems.

I was in Carlow and Kilkenny yesterday with Deputy Murnane O'Connor. I met representatives of the Holy Angels Day Care Centre to discuss the query the Deputy has raised on early intervention for children who need to access preschool services. I have taken it on board and I will meet the HSE on Friday morning to address this vital issue regarding early intervention assessments.

It is not good enough that these continuing assessments would be ongoing while we are rolling out the progressing disability services, PDS, model. This factors into the question the Deputy asked and which Deputy Murnane O'Connor raised with me yesterday regarding the Holy Angels service. While I do not have access to the data because of the cyberattack, I need to be sure that no child is being denied a service because an early intervention is not being done to get him or her into preschool, whether an ASD preschool service or a preschool catering for complex needs. I will have an answer on that point on Friday.

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