Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt, both in here and outside, that we have been lambasted with statements that early intervention is required. I know from parents, teachers and so on that this is not happening. I am glad to hear that the Minister of State is not happy with the SOP. What is being done about the matter? The Ombudsman had a go at the HSE and the High Court has ruled against it. Why the database was allowed to be so outdated in the first place is another thing that needs to be answered by the Minister of State or the Department, because the dysfunction of the system spreads further than the HSE's smoke-and-mirrors act, which is what the High Court called it. Yesterday, Mr. Paul Reid said that 91 children's disability network teams are now in place across the country. He pointed out that substantial additional resources have been provided to these teams since 2019.

For one family who contacted me, Mr. Reid's optimistic comments do not wash. Their child had been referred to occupational therapy through an early intervention pathway in September 2020. Then the teams were reconfigured and he was told that he was being transferred to the children's disability network team. However, this seems to have cost him time because when informing the family of this change, the children's disability network team also said that they could not provide them with a timeframe as to when their child will be seen. In terms of early intervention, this case has taken two or three years, which is ridiculous and something needs to be done. I appreciate that the Minister of State has fierce concern about the matter and done a lot of work on it but an awful lot more work needs to be done. I hope, as she has said about the SOP, that even if that can be changed so that families can get more early intervention because the situation breaks their hearts and breaks the heart of the Minister of State. I have no doubt that she and the other Deputies present have listened to the stories of families who are struggling to get that kind of intervention.

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