Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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6. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the waiting lists for clinical services for children with autism spectrum disorder in north Dublin. [7943/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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The Minister and Minister of State are well aware that early assessment and intervention are critical for children with ASD and other disabilities. A couple of years ago, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, told me that the Beechpark Autism Services team was getting an extra five posts to try to reduce the waiting list. Under Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People, of which the Minister of State is also aware, 21 new posts were sanctioned for Dublin north. What is the current position on those posts? Last year, I was disappointed that the then Minister had not filled them. If they have been filled, what is the waiting list currently?

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy. Health-related supports and interventions for children with disabilities, including those with autism, are generally accessed, depending on the level of need, through primary care and specialist disability services. Information on waiting times for primary care and specialist disability services is not generally collected in terms of specific disabilities, such as autism.

While it is recognised that there are challenges in providing children with timely access to these services in the north Dublin area and elsewhere, the Government is committed to addressing this issue through the development of primary care and specialist disability services. An additional €20 million in funding has been allocated to strengthen primary care services and to support the recruitment of more than 264 prioritised front-line posts. Forty-nine of the posts have been allocated to the north Dublin area.

The HSE is also engaged in a major reorganisation of existing therapy resources into geographic-based teams for children with disability aged from birth to 18 years under the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People programme. The reconfiguration programme is due to be fully implemented by the end of 2015 or early 2016. This will result in a more equitable service provision for all children with a disability, including those with autism, in the localities in which they reside. It aims to achieve a national, unified approach to delivering disability health services so that there is a clear pathway to services for all children, regardless of where they live, what school they attend or the natures of their disabilities. An additional €4 million was specifically allocated in 2014 to drive the implementation of the programme. This equates to approximately 80 therapist posts, 21 of which have been allocated to support the reorganisation of services in the north Dublin area and to address waiting lists. Recruitment of these posts is still under way. A further investment of €4 million is being made to support the roll-out of the programme in 2015.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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I welcome the allocations, but there is concern at the speed with which recruitment is taking place and the long, drawn out process. The Minister of State might report on this matter.

Apparently, the work of the independent expert review group that the then Minister, Deputy Reilly, set up a few years ago to examine the Beechpark model of services was nearing completion last year. Has the group reported? Following an earlier Government decision, is the disability manager for the north of Dublin in place? Early intervention and assessment are critical. It is disappointing that the Minister of State does not have data. There is a major dearth of data on the incidence of ASD in the population, as Professor Anthony Staines's report shows. The level seems to have increased significantly in recent decades. What of our determination to identify this condition as early as possible and to help children?

While I welcome the Minister of State's point, we need more urgent recruitment and implementation. I also need data. The Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, gave me a reply-----

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The north Dublin area 9, Health Service Executive social care operational plan, which I think the Deputy is referring to, indicates that the local implementation plan is due to be completed by the end of 2015 with full reconfiguration into 12 teams in quarter one of 2016.

In respect of diagnosis, those representing the people aged from birth to 18 and those with progressing disabilities tell us that it is a question of early intervention. The diagnosis may come later, provided the speech therapy and occupational therapy, the type of one to one intervention that children with autism will need, is provided. We have seen long waits for diagnosis while nothing was happening. We are trying to put the teams in place. North Dublin does not get these posts more than other areas because we like the look of the place but because we recognise there is a deficit. Recruitment is an issue for us and is taking longer than expected but there are few people qualifying in these areas. It is being worked on daily.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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Would the Minister of State follow up on the new model of immediate service provision and early diagnosis?

I have asked the Minister for Health to provide all the data on autism spectrum disorder, ASD, in young people, for 2013-14 and to date in 2015 and have been waiting some time for that. The Minister gave me his famous 15 working days deadline for this as he used to do when he was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, but I have been waiting some time for that reply and for one or two other replies. The Minister and Minister of State might follow up on those questions.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Only at the point of diagnosis can we get the absolute data the Deputy is looking for. If we make the interventions before we make the diagnosis, the data will take a bit longer to collect. That is not to say we should not have it. I believe if we do not know where and what the need is and if we cannot absolutely put our hands on that type of data, we cannot plan properly. If we do it this way, there will be a time lag in collecting the data.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Unfortunately, Deputy Keaveney is ill and we cannot take question No. 7. Question No. 8 is in the name of Deputy Boyd Barrett but he is not present.