Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State indicated that progress has been made, but this family will want to know when that happened. It is all part of a much wider issue of failing to fill key posts across the health system which is creating massive gaps in service provision. This is just one case of a baby who cannot get access to a dietician at this stage of their development but the lack of public nurses is also a problem. Back in April, I received a response from the HSE on the waiting list for children’s audiology services had more than doubled in two years.

In Tallaght alone, 5,856 children are waiting on audiology services, which is again down to a lack of staff in that service. The HSE itself identified the problem there as high demand levels and a number of staff vacancies which could not proceed due to the recruitment pause within its organisation. Again, it is ordinary families who are suffering. The big question is when we are going to fill these vacant posts in the health service and get patients like this baby the care and treatment they need. I raised this already with the Tánaiste regarding the audiology services. I never even got an answer on that. He said he would pass it on to the Minister. If there is anything the Minister of State can do within the service itself, it would be appreciated. I am particularly focused on this child but I am aware there are many children in the system at the moment and whose families are crying out for help. They do not know who to turn to. They are coming to us. We are not medical experts but they are looking for us to try to find a pathway through this mess that is currently there. I welcome, as the Minister of State mentioned, that plans to recruit 2,269 additional staff are in progress but people want to know when.

See this speech in context