Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I will be brief. I hope the Minister of State will be able to answer my questions about the assessment of needs for children with disabilities in the Dublin Mid-West constituency. This is a crisis of our time, in some ways. The position in my locality is mirrored across the State, where there are huge waiting times for children to be assessed. Given that early intervention is of key importance, why are children having to wait so long?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely important issue. The Minister of State with responsibility for this area, Deputy Finian McGrath, sends his apologies. I am pleased to take this opportunity to update Deputy Kenny and the House on the progress that is being made in developing services for children with disabilities and on the current position regarding waiting times for assessments of need.

As the Deputy has pointed out, waiting times are far too long in some instances. The HSE recognises that early intervention services and services for school-age children with disabilities need to be improved and organised more effectively. To this end, a major reconfiguration of therapy resources for children with disabilities up to the age of 18 is under way. This national programme, Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People, involves bringing staff from different service providers together into network teams. The aim of the programme is to bring about equity of access to disability services and consistency of service delivery. It provides for a clear pathway for children with disabilities and their families to services regardless of where they live, what school they attend or the nature of their difficulties. It places a stronger emphasis on the health and education sectors working more closely together to support children with special needs to achieve their potential. The implementation of the programme is taking place on a phased basis in consultation with stakeholders, including service users and their families. It is a key priority in the HSE's service plan. It is estimated that by the end of the year, 76 of the 129 teams will be reconfigured. Under the Disability Act 2005, a child can request an assessment of need. Since the Act commenced, the number of requests for assessments appears to vary across the country. The level of requests is higher in areas where the reconfiguration of children's disability services has yet to take place. This would suggest that where a good service is being provided, the need for assessments is reduced.

The HSE recognises that it faces significant challenges in meeting the statutory timeframes that apply to the assessment of need process. It is aware that there is a significant backlog in carrying out assessments of need in Deputy Kenny's constituency of Dublin Mid-West. This is due to a number of vacancies in key roles. I am pleased to report that the recruitment process to fill these posts has been completed and successful candidates will take up these roles in the coming weeks.

The current programme for Government commits the Government to improving services and increasing supports for people with disabilities, particularly for early assessment and intervention for children with special needs. Significant resources have been invested by the health sector in services for children with disabilities over recent years. As the Deputy will be aware, health-related therapy supports and interventions for children are provided through the HSE's primary care services and its specialist disability services, depending on the level of the child's need.

In 2013, additional funding of €20 million was allocated to strengthen primary care services and support the recruitment of over 260 prioritised front-line primary care posts, including 52 occupational therapists and 52 speech and language therapists. In 2016, funding of €4 million was provided under the HSE's national service plan to focus specifically on speech and language therapy waiting lists in primary care services and social care for children up to the age of 18. This investment represents a long-term increase in speech and language capacity that will be maintained into next year. Arising from budget 2017, the HSE is looking at how extra funds provided for disability services will be allocated. In particular, it will be asked to build on previous investments in therapeutic supports. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, will outline in greater detail how that money will be spent in line with the service plan after that plan has been approved.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I think we have a problem because waiting times are so long that they contravene the Disability Act 2005. Essentially, this means children are waiting for services for more than six months. The State is breaking its own law. This has serious implications for the State and for the children who are not being seen. There is a possibility that families will bring the State to court because their children are not being seen on time. The statistics are quite incredible. Many children have been waiting for these services for up to 18 months. Approximately 2,000 children under the age of five are waiting for occupational therapy services. Some 20,000 children are waiting to see speech and language therapists. According to Inclusion Ireland, the speech and language services one receives are greatly influenced by where one lives. There are 162 children for every therapist in Ireland at the moment. It is recommended that there should be a therapist for every 30 to 65 children.

Major questions arise when children and their families get assessments of need, but the bigger question is the waiting time for occupational therapy services, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy. In this day and age, nobody should be waiting more than six months, but that is happening in Dublin Mid-West and across the country. There are huge waiting times of over 18 months in Cork, for example. It is not acceptable, especially in a year when we are marking the 100th anniversary of 1916. The Proclamation refers to "cherishing all the children of the nation", but at this moment in time the State is not cherishing its children. It is actually failing them. That has serious and profound consequences for families and for the State. I have to say it is a shame that this country cannot provide crucial early intervention services to children in their time of need.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy that we need to focus on the requirements and needs of the child. There has been no clear pathway up until now. We have had a disjointed pathway. I hope we will start to see a new process as part of the reconfiguration of services. These issues will not be resolved without co-operation between the Departments of Health, Education and Skills and Children and Youth Affairs. Obviously, resources are being reconfigured.

As I have mentioned, we have started to see improvements in the 76 teams, of the total of 129 teams, which have already been reconfigured. That process needs to be hastened so that improvements are made as quickly as possible. We know that the earlier we identify the needs of a child or young person, the easier it is to fulfil that process. That requires staff, teams and the filling of posts. That needs to be a priority. As I have said, vacancies have been filled in Deputy Kenny's area of Dublin Mid-West. However, there are still many such vacancies throughout the country. This needs to be a priority. I will take the Deputy's remarks back to the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. I am sure he will outline in due course where he intends to spend his additional funding within the service plan.