Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It will come as no great surprise that I rise to discuss the assessment of needs and disability services for children with special needs. I do this on behalf of many families across County Tipperary who are at their wits’ end in trying to get timely access for their children. The seriousness of this situation is conveyed on a daily basis in Tipperary, with parents getting in touch with me, with parents going on local radio and with parents discussing the situation that their children are faced with on social media.

Take, for example, the case of a family of a young girl who has fallen foul of the system by having an initial diagnosis of autism. I have been told she will not get a full diagnosis for at least 24 months. They cannot afford to go private like many others are forced to do. They thought getting the domiciliary care allowance might give them room to do this, but after applying they were told they are not entitled to it because there was no diagnostic report available. Outlining the dysfunctional nature of the system, the Department of Social Protection said in a letter of refusal that it is not that it does not consider the child to need additional care, it is that there is no objective information to indicate the extent of the care needed. However, this is the tip of the iceberg.

One such parent, Linda, was on Tipp FM this week. She has a six-year-old son who has been waiting for an assessment for 37 months. This is another family failed by the system that the Minister of State has a role in overseeing. He has been left with no SNA in school and will not qualify for one until he is assessed. What about four-year-old Ollie, who has been on a waiting list for speech and language and occupational therapy and has needed assessment for nearly two years now?

He is a year away from starting school. Early intervention is key, but he is not getting it.

Under the Disability Act 2005, an assessment of need must be commenced within three months of receipt of an application and completed within a further three months. The recent High Court ruling essentially found that the HSE failed to comply with the provisions of the Act. The executive tried to subvert its obligations under the Act by replacing the assessment of needs process with a standing operating procedure, SOP. The SOP essentially amounted to a screening exercise. In cases which indicate that a child requires a comprehensive assessment, they are referred to an additional waiting list for further assessment. As the Ombudsman for Children stated, this effectively created a second waiting list.

Not only did the HSE steer away from its obligations in this regard, my colleague, Deputy Cullinane, has since found out that the last time that it submitted a report on the needs of children with disabilities, as it is required to do under section 13 of the Act, was in 2014. These reports are essential to provide a picture of what resources are needed. When confronted with this, the HSE questioned the Act until the fact that it operated under an outdated database was highlighted. Again, this was discovered by my colleague.

Behind every reason these children are being failed by the State likes yet another reason. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could answer some of the questions I am posing and not reel off a load of corporate speak, as the ombudsman put it, that does not reflect the needs of the children concerned. The Minister of State knows that I am from County Tipperary. In that context, can she tell me what measures are being put in place to ensure not just the recruitment of staff but also the retention of existing staff? What specifics has she got? In terms of recruitment, what process is under way in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, 3 and CHO 5 areas? How many staff are needed and how many are being taken on? Is it true that people are applying for speech and language therapist and occupational therapist positions but are being turned away? Can she tell me the causes of differing levels of access available across the CHOs? Is the outsourcing in some areas and not in others causing this? If she needs me to repeat my questions, I will be more than happy to do so. I wish to stress that there are parents who want answers and there are children whose future is being put at risk because of a crisis that the HSE has tried to hide.

Finally, can the Minister of State tell me why the HSE was allowed to get away with the SOP farce? Why was the database to inform the Department about the extent of needs allowed to get outdated and why were reports allowed to go unwritten?

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