Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. What is happening in the area in question? I understand there was a lot of restructuring and that public health nurses were redeployed to deal with the Covid crisis but this issue relating to developmental checks has been going on for a year. The Covid crisis lifted in April last year and one would have expected that staff would have moved back into their roles at that stage. The Minister of State pointed to retirement and so on and stated that parents who are concerned about their child's development should contact their GP - GPs are also under severe pressure at the moment - or the local public health nursing service directly.

I am not satisfied with the response of the Minister of State. She stated that 83.8% of children reaching 12 months within the reporting period had their child health development assessment on time or before reaching 12 months, which is better than the 59% that pertained previously, but this is a crucial area of health for children and babies. They need these checks, which are very important for their long-term future. In the first 12 months, there is vitamin D, tests for babies, the BCG vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccination, meningitis C vaccination, hearing tests and heel prick tests. There are so many tests done in that period to assess the future development of the child.

There are certain areas into which the HSE should be putting its staff and resources. This is one of the main such areas. It should have contacted and put in place either a GP visit or another measure to respond to the situation.

I would like more feedback on that because I am still concerned about the situation at Old County Road. We do not know what is happening in many other clinics.

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