Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will be familiar with the issues in County Meath.

She attended a meeting with parents of children with disabilities on 3 May in Pillo Hotel, so she will have heard the case articulated and spelt out clearly far better than I can do now. Similar to Deputy Ó Murchú, I have replies to parliamentary questions. There are four children's disability network teams in the county and every one of them has vacancies. In some, one in four positions are vacant. There are vacancies at every grade and across every discipline. That has a real impact on the services that are available to people. It has to be addressed, and it does not end there. One can say the same with regard to paediatric psychiatry and say it ten times over with regard to respite care.

See this speech in context