Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I, too, congratulate Deputy Pauline Tully on introducing the motion. She has done so because the Government cannot be trusted to live up to its responsibilities to children. It is great to hear that the Minister understands the position. These are famous words we hear over and over from the other side of the floor regarding everything that comes up but families want action, not statements that the Government understands and knows what needs to be done. Our children have been failed owing to unmet obligations on the part of the Government and HSE through the manipulation of the system that is meant to put children's interests first. There has been a betrayal of trust that was supposed to be reinforced under the Disability Act 2005, which placed a duty on the HSE to provide a comprehensive AON within six months. To avoid its obligations, the HSE introduced a preliminary team assessment in 2020, its purpose being to skirt around the obligations set out under the Disability Act. This created another waiting list that does not fall under the Act and lacks any legal requirement to provide the comprehensive assessment within the timeframe set. The recent High Court ruling showed that this is in breach of the Disability Act 2005. This reflects what parents, disability organisations, Sinn Féin and the Ombudsman for Children have said, but it does not stop there because not a single one of the 91 CDNTs around the country is fully staffed, which results in children going without the full suite of development services they need. Can the Minister now see why neither families nor we believe the Government when it says it understands and wants to do what is required?

The Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland, the Psychological Society of Ireland and the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists have said a significant number of front-line clinicians have left or intend to leave their posts in child disability services as a result of the implementation of the new assessment procedure. That paints a picture of children's disability services under the Government.

We introduced this Bill to ensure the Government and HSE would stop breaking the law and cutting corners and provide children with the services they need. Given the seriousness of the High Court finding, we want an assurance that any review of the Disability Act will not be used to undermine the current rights of people with disabilities. We demand that the Government live up to its moral and legal obligations.

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