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

I have been contacted by a mother in Roscommon whose child requires occupational therapy and speech and language therapy but is not receiving it. In her email she said it is one year since the provision of services transferred from the Brothers of Charity to the HSE. During this year the situation has been intolerable for her family, with having to beg at ministerial level for services.

Her child is one of thousands, and in our own community healthcare organisation, CHO 2, 1,600 children are waiting for that initial contact from the disability network teams. Vacancies are obviously rife right across those network teams. If the network teams cannot be staffed, and many of them are yet to be staffed, an alternative needs be found to ensure these children get the services they need, when they need them, and not years later. That is not to mention the thousands of children in Roscommon, Galway and throughout the State who are waiting for various services under primary care. A way has to be found if these network teams cannot be staffed.

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