Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with my party colleagues.

One of the greatest challenges we face, as I am sure we would all agree, relates to the fact that children who need additional support are being neglected in the current system. Far too many of them are not getting the support they need when they need it and they are instead being passed from one waiting list to another. They wait for an assessment, for initial therapy and then for further therapy, and months and months pass by. It is those children and their parents who suffer. It is particularly heartbreaking for parents and we have all dealt with those who are affected. A child being left to wait on any list impacts on every part of their life, including their mental health, their well-being, their life at home and at school, their development at school, their education and their own friend groups.

The reconfiguration that has taken place in recent months has been really difficult for parents. I spoke to certain parents who were getting some therapy for their children. In County Roscommon, for example, they would have been getting it through the Brothers of Charity and now, since the reconfiguration, they are getting none at all. Just like anyone on a waiting list when it comes to health, the longer a person waits, the more he or she regresses and the greater impact it has on development, particularly when it is a child.

As has been said this evening, vacancies remain in children's disability network teams across the State, including in counties Roscommon and Galway, meaning children will continue to wait. We know that across CHO 2, which includes counties Mayo, Roscommon and Galway, 1,675 children are waiting for initial contact from the disability network team. The majority of these children have been waiting between four and 12 months. As has been said, we have no data regarding the breakdown on the support these children are waiting for because the computer system in place is not fit for purpose. When we speak about the waiting lists for children with disabilities with regard to the new network teams, we must also remember that these are on top of huge waiting lists and long waiting times under primary care. To name a few, 715 children are waiting for psychology treatment in counties Roscommon and Galway, 507 are waiting for occupational therapy, 758 are waiting for assessment for physical therapy and 1,341 are waiting for an initial assessment for speech and language therapy. We have so much to do with regard to disability services. No-one is taking away from the work that is being done but we have a massive challenge to overcome with regard to children and their services.

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