Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy said, a lot of progress has been made on primary care teams and typically children who have needs, be they mild, moderate or complex, are getting access to the primary care teams earlier. We have allocated funding this year through the waiting list action plan to bring in private providers. My view is that we should use every scintilla of healthcare provision available, whether publicly or privately, to tackle the waiting lists and get children the care they need as quickly as possible. In many of the specialties required in disability services where, as the Deputy said, the services are more complex, very little private provision is available. In some cases, however, it is available and the HSE is clear, both for primary care through me and for the disability services through the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, that funding is available to access private care when it is available.

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