Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy again for his contribution and concern in this very important matter. I assure the House that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will continue to engage with the HSE to fill the vacant posts and to drive them towards the levels required. Most of the disciplines working in the CDNTs are similar to those working in other areas of the health and social care sector, both public and private.

In this context, the HSE disability services continue to experience ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining staff across all the disciplines and grades on their children's network teams. A comprehensive PDS national team development programme has been provided for network managers and has been circulated to all team members. This programme, which was designed to support the establishment of the new CDNTs and to support implementation of the new model of service, will also support staff retention.

Both the HSE and the Department acknowledge that while many children with disabilities and their families are accessing services, too many families are reporting an unsatisfactory experience. Some families are experiencing long waiting lists and others report varying degrees of consistency in the services they are receiving. We understand and recognise the distress this causes and I can assure the House that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will continue to work tirelessly with the HSE to find long-term solutions to the staffing issues which, when improved, will ensure children and young people with complex needs will be able to access the services that are vital for their development.

The Deputy has mentioned fast-tracking the services and I restate I will bring his views back to the Minister of State. I thank Deputy Andrews again, however, for raising this very important matter. I also agree with him that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is doing everything she can to address this very difficult situation.

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