Dáil debates

Thursday, 2 March 2023

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

12:30 pm

Photo of Michael FitzmauriceMichael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We all need to acknowledge the work done by the emergency services in Wexford yesterday evening. I will comment on another part of the country, community healthcare organisation, CHO, 2. I am specifically dealing with County Roscommon, where we have been inundated over the past eight to ten months by parents of children aged between three and 15 or 16 regarding CAMHS services, ADHD and children with autism, where the whole system seems to be in disarray. A child aged three and a half had a blood test done that had to be sent to England for a diagnosis. Ten months later, those parents have still not got a reply or result, as the Tánaiste will be aware, because questions have gone to him over the past six to eight months. There are children who have not been assessed and no care plan has been put in place. Many children have no occupational therapy services or speech and language therapy. The reply when we write to the Minister is that he will send it to the HSE. Then, we wait a few more weeks and we get a lovely letter back saying it is due to staff shortages. In his reply to Deputy Mattie McGrath, the Tánaiste spoke about embracing the UN convention and treating all people the same. With regard to how these children are being placed, families are being put in a situation they do not want where they have to go to the courts to get what their children rightly deserve. I do not care whether there is a shortage or not in the HSE. The HSE needs to make decisions that if families can go privately, they should be told that their children, whatever services are required, will be paid for privately, if that is required. We have been going around in circles for the past six to eight months with parents getting frustrated. When I talk about frustrated, I have had parents crying on the phone, desperate to get services they are not getting. In the Roscommon area, it appears to be in total chaos. The letters we get back are constantly about staff shortages and retention of staff. Funnily enough, if you have enough money in your pocket, you can still get these people, depending on your income. I ask the Tánaiste to look at those cases and talk to the Minister beside him. Will he make sure the children in County Roscommon are treated the same as other children around the country?

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