Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Like so many of these things, this question arises from a specific query. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, will know the lay of the land well. It concerns the reconfiguration of services in County Waterford. A constituent in Tramore was transferred to the Dungarvan CDNT. After making an inquiry on her behalf, first of all I was told that the child's mother had waited for a number of weeks for a reply and an apology was made. That did not surprise me because I waited a number of weeks for a reply. If you contact the office, you get an automated response saying messages will be checked once a week. The child in question was told that unfortunately, the CDNT manager was not in a position to confirm when the child, who is 15, will be able to access the service. The child was further told that they will be able to access adult services when they turn 18, in three years' time. I find it very difficult to go back to that parent and tell her that we are instigating a recruitment campaign to shorten waiting times some time in the future, when she has been told that her child will not be seen for services as a child and has to wait to become an adult.

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