Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister, Deputy Foley, for her words and her hard work driving reform with a sharper focus on the delivery of therapies for children. I also thank the Minister for taking the time to hear my voice as a representative of families who are facing unacceptable and heartbreaking realities. In my constituency of Meath West I have, first as a councillor and now as a TD, dealt with a number of parents in really difficult situations who are fighting daily to get the supports needed for their families. We do not agree on a lot in this Chamber but on this we certainly do. Children with special needs are waiting far too long for the supports and services they require. These are children who need early intervention, therapies, educational support and timely diagnoses to ensure they get the best start in life, yet they are caught in a system that asks them and their families to wait, sometimes indefinitely.

One of the reasons I got into politics is I am a caregiver and a mother and I understand the challenges families are facing to access the support, the services and the recognition our children all deserve. I believe in the purpose of committees that advocate for children and that we can turn the stories we hear every day into action and make changes effective. At almost every door I knocked on during the recent general election I was told a tale of a child – a niece, nephew, neighbour or a friend’s child – unable to access the support so badly needed. We will and must do better for these children. The areas of housing and disability are the two main focuses of this Government, as well they should be. I want to return to those doors having enriched the lives of families living daily with the most difficult of circumstances. The rise in population, the backlog during Covid, the lack of therapists and therapies not being completed in the school setting have no doubt contributed to our longer waiting lists and all our issues that need addressing. I implore the Minister to carry on her work in this area and progress the commitments we have made in the programme for Government, which I have no doubt will positively reform the area of assessment of needs.

Since 2020, the need for assessments has increased by more than double. The waiting lists initiative is tackling the families longest awaiting assessment of needs and additional funding is in place for therapists in our CDNTs. Over €2 billion has been added to the disability spend in that same timeframe. These are all positive moves and steps forward, but unfortunately little comfort to the families awaiting assessment today. Urgent and radical actions need to be taken. It would be remiss of me not to mention, as many Deputies will, the brave and exceptional Cara Darmody who first advocated so strongly for her brothers and now does so for children across our country. So too do organisations like AsIAm, which play vital roles in advocating for some of the most vulnerable in our society and raise awareness and promote acceptance for those with special needs and disabilities. I am proud to have been part of the founding team of the Trim Autism Friendly Town committee, which is one of a number of neurodivergent committees in Meath West representing our most vulnerable people. The work of Cara, AsIAm, Trim Autism Friendly Town, Enfield Autism Friendly Town and Neurodivergent Navan has all contributed to parents, children and those with special needs and disabilities feeling embraced, feeling seen and feeling heard. We now need to catch up with those therapies.

Every day is a struggle for these families, even when they have the right supports in place and it is the least we can do to provide them. I was glad to hear the Minister say two things today, namely, her absolute understanding of the stress these situations cause families and also that finance will not be a barrier. However, we know staffing is a major across the health service.

In Trim, last week alone, a new GP opened, with hundreds of patients clamouring to join her list. We are the mothers, we are the caregivers and those who shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the children of Ireland, and we must resolve this for our families. As the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on children and a member of the Oireachtas committees on education and youth and on children and equality, I look forward to continuing to work with the Minister to solve this major issue for our families.

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