Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. She may not have them with her but is it possible to get figures? She gave percentage increases of 30% and 65% in the first few months of this year. If she has the figures for what that means in the numbers of assessments of need, that would be really helpful.

While the Government continues to build public capacity which is very important, the Minister of State previously said that funding will not be an issue in accessing private capacity. Has the HSE examined how much more private capacity can be reached to see how many more people can be taken off the waiting list?

Can the Minister of State update us on staffing and the set up and establishment of the regional assessment hubs? Where are they at in terms of their establishment and set up? What will they mean for people in those areas on the waiting lists?

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