Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the very high figure of more than 14,000 children and the demand increase, this is fine and part of it, of course, is related to population. I would not say, though, that part of it is parents exploring all options for their children, particularly if they can go through the CDNTs without an assessment of need. We must be really careful in terms of the things we say concerning this matter because, for those children who are on a waiting list, and their parents especially, waiting and waiting is extremely stressful and worrying. The parents know the situation all the time as long as the child is waiting and waiting. We must be mindful too that the waiting list for an assessment of need is only step one. It is then typically necessary to move on to another list for whatever therapy is needed and children may actually end up on a number of waiting lists. We must, therefore, be very careful in terms of how we speak about the increase and what it means. If the Minister of State does have the opportunity, I would like if she could expand on her final comment on the AON administration hubs and what this means.

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