Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all recognise we are dealing with a technical Bill to move certain functions from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Following on from some of the conversations I have had with the Minister of State, there is obviously a logic to what is being done here. I know she had intentions to go to Dundalk and has planned for a further visit. We have dealt with certain issues in regard to disability but what we are lacking, as per normal, is a service for children and adults with disabilities that is fit for purpose and operates for the entirety of their lives. Not only was there an anomaly in terms of where certain powers lay within the Department of Health, which should perhaps have been with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, but we are also dealing with the fact that some of the issues relate to housing, local government and other areas. I refer to instances, for examples, where people are trying to access housing that is suitable for children with particular acute difficulties.

I am very thankful for the work the Minister of State is doing in bringing forward this legislation.

It is also about providing the services, whether those are under the local authority or whatever, with a roadmap for delivery. That is the big thing we need across the board. Everyone has been clear that we are all inundated with parents, families and, particularly, mothers who are under severe pressure, whether they are seeking autism spectrum disorder, ASD, services, occupational therapy, physiotherapy or speech and language therapy. This is about making sure we can make those services much easier to access and that it can be done in a much more streamlined fashion. We all know the difficulty even to get on the list for assessment of need, never mind the difficulties that can occur when somebody gets the service.

We have seen the recent issues relating to CAMHS. Generally, the complaint is that a person cannot get into the service, but in these cases the issue was that the service was not fit for purpose. That is not good enough for the citizens and the people. A huge piece of work needs to be done, from family supports to community supports for disabilities right across the board. We just need to get to the heart of it.

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