Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Deputy, on behalf of the Minister, for raising this matter of great importance to children and their families in CHO 4. The aids and appliances provided by the HSE under the community-funded schemes support individuals to continue living within their communities. They are prescribed on the basis of an identified clinical need and provided in line with established criteria. The HSE advises that age is not a factor when a clinical need is identified. However, vacancies in the children's disability network teams can cause delays in clinical assessments being carried out. This may delay the prescription of appropriate products but is not a matter on which the resource allocation group could have an impact.

Once approved for funding by the resource allocation group, waiting times for items vary, depending on the priority rating. Priority is given to individuals with the greatest level of clinical need. The waiting time for approval of stock items is generally no more than two weeks. For bespoke items such as powered wheelchairs, which need to be designed, manufactured and delivered by the supplier, the waiting time is longer. The HSE reports that the national service improvement programme for aids and appliances has resulted in completed category lists. Category-specific information for prescribers is now published on the HSE website. The work to improve services is ongoing.

When I read the response from the Department, I asked about timelines, considering that the assessment is already done in the case of the child to whom the Deputy referred. I was informed that the resource allocation groups meet once a month to make decisions. It might be helpful to look at how that is done. I will raise the issue of budgets with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, this evening. I urge the Deputy to do the same.

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