John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

No one wants to see Cara Darmody outside of this House. I join with Deputy Alan Kelly when he said that the last thing we would expect in a democracy like ours, with an economy that is doing well, is a 14-year-old outside Leinster House campaigning not just for her own family members but to highlight what is going on right around the country. It is not right. The Minister or some senior official should be outside talking to her, to bring about a resolution not just to her family's problem but to the overall issues.

I believe in the goodwill of the Minister. I know everyone in this House wants to do the right thing by those who are disabled, marginalised or in this system looking for an assessment of need for their child who may have autism or other issues. Do not tell me the management of the HSE did not see this coming. It is shocking that they actually ignored it for years. I would point to 2010 and 2011 as the years when the numbers began to increase rapidly in terms of those who could not access services for their children who may have had autism, whether an assessment or therapies. The numbers grew from that time. We do not need a consultant's report to look at what went on. All we need do is look at the parliamentary questions that were being asked during that period and right up to today regarding those who cannot get assessments or the professional supports they need so urgently. Oral questions here in the House over that period show us the same trend.

The Governments from 2011 up to now have absolutely failed. We should start the debate by acknowledging our failure and acknowledging that in spite of the money being put into the system, the services are not being delivered. We have to ask why that is the case. Where is the system failing? I think we will find it is failing in terms of management, which should see the problem and recruit to deal with it. We have a complete collapse of that system and it is extremely unfair and damaging to the young children who are affected by this. We need a rapid response, lots of money and lots of personnel within the HSE who are qualified. We need to be searching abroad to bring them home if that is necessary. We certainly need to do a lot more to reduce the lists and employ OTs, speech and language therapists, psychologists and physiotherapists.

We need to engage with the parents. The recent changes in the HSE have seen professionals within the system instructing parents as to how they should deal with their child, or how they should cope with the child. Assessments are needed to deal with the issue. The local authority will always ask for an assessment if the family wants to get a particular type of accommodation. All of that has to be fast-tracked and dealt with. The waiting times are extraordinary. I do not know how much money or time it is going to take to resolve it. The problems for these families are here and now. The Minister should really bring in the senior managers in the HSE to determine how they are going to deal with it, how they are going to spend the extra money the Minister says will be available to them, how they are going to focus on all the appointments that are needed, and how they are going to fix a really broken system. That is the question. The parents are looking for answers today because they are affected every single day. When this debate is over, we will probably talk about something else. That probably should not be allowed to happen either.

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