Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on behalf of Willow and her parents. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Naughton, is sitting beside me. She is very happy to talk to the Deputy about this. I am pleased that Willow finally got her assessment. In the budget last week, we significantly increased the money to use private capacity for assessments but I acknowledge that is for the assessment. There is then the issue of accessing the therapies. We have seen a very significant increase in the budget for disability this year. It is up €618 million for 2026 on 2025. That will provide us with much more funding to hire more therapists. However, I have to be honest with Willow's parents and everybody here that trying to find and recruit therapists is a challenge we have identified. We have increased the number of training places in colleges. We are looking at international recruitment and how we can work with regulatory bodies in terms of more people coming in. We also looking at how we reform the legislation to make sure that people have a right to assessment of need but that it works in a more efficient and effective way for everybody. I will ask the Minister of State to speak to the Deputy on this matter.

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