Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for sharing time and for her forthrightness, the way she has been dealing with the issues across the spectrum and the way she has tackled the system. The system needs to be tackled. There are a number of issues.

As was stated earlier, the capacity in the system needs to be increased. Many of the section 38 and 39 organisations and other voluntary organisations have advanced plans for projects. Funding should be allocated to ensure that shovel ready projects do not need to go through all the system. If projects are ready to go, we must ensure funding follows and that capacity is increased. The Minister of State knows what I am talking about. Many organisations have projects ready to go and they need to be funded. Dillydallying is not needed.

The assessment of needs is one aspect, but early intervention and therapies are needed. Many diagnoses have been made but no therapies are available in the public sector. Each of us as public representatives meet parents on a daily basis who are crying out for services that cannot be obtained. We are duty bound to ensure those services are available and that the teams and system that is being thought up have adequate resources. All available people should be recruited to the teams and be made available to families. The Minister of State's closing remark about putting families first is very welcome. I compliment her on saying it. We must follow through on it because, and I often say it and we keep saying it at our committee - the Vice-Chair of our committee, Deputy Tully, is here - there is an attitude in the system that needs to be changed and challenged in a major way.

See this speech in context