Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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The next question is in the name of Deputy Pauline Tully and her substitute is Deputy Thomas Gould.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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95. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to address the slow pace of implementing Progressing Disability Services and children’s disability networks; his plans to address the challenges this has presented for parents of children with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59113/21]

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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As the Minister will probably know, today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I want to know how he plans to address the slow pace of implementing and processing disability services, and children's disability networks. I want to know how he plans to address the challenges this presents for parents of children with disabilities. Finally, I ask him to make a statement here on the matter.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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My colleague and fellow Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, sends her apologies as she is currently in the Seanad and was not in a position to take this question.

The implementation of Progressing Disability Service for Children and Young People, PDS, programme is an agreed Government and HSE policy. This policy supports the reconfiguration of children's disability services to provide equitable child and family-centred services based on need rather than diagnosis. The PDS programme will ensure that services are provided for children with complex needs regardless of where they live or go to school.

In line with the PDS model, resources assigned for children's disability services are allocated to the birth to 18 years disability network teams rather than a dedicated early intervention team or dedicated school age team. No longer will a child age out of the services. Before, when one reached the age of six, one was transferred to different services. With this new PDS model, services will be allocated from birth to age 18 years, which I am sure everybody will welcome. There are now 88 network teams in place and the remaining three will be in place by the end of the year. This constitutes the most significant re-organisation of health and social care services ever undertaken in the State.

The reconfiguration of network teams has been challenging, particularly in regard to staffing issues. Currently, there are a number of vacancies on children's disability network teams in each community healthcare organisation, CHO. Recruitment is being progressed, as a matter of urgency, by HSE national recruitment services, and directly in the case of section 39 lead agencies, in order to support network teams to optimise service delivery. There are recruitment challenges due to the significant availability of new posts across the wider HSE in areas such as primary care and services for older people.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Last month, figures were released to me that show the following: 853 children await occupational therapy in Cork north Lee in my own constituency; over 200 children have waited two years or more; and some children have waited three and four years. I have also had it confirmed for me that out of the three funded occupational therapist positions in Cork north Lee 1.5 persons have been on maternity leave since June 2020 and 0.5 of a person has yet to be recruited. This means that for the past 18 months one occupational therapist has had to deal with over 850 children.

Even if we did have three occupational therapists they would not be able to deal with the more than 200 children who have waited over two years and the other 650 children. It is scandal that there is only one occupational therapist to look after 853 children. I wish to emphasise to the Minister of State that parents are at their wits' end because they cannot get services for their children. What can she tell me to tell those parents?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has put enormous work and energy into reducing the number of children who are overdue assessments of need. Nationally, 6,558 assessments of need were overdue in June 2020 under the old process. At the end of October 2021, through a combination of different measures, approximately 6,100 children had their assessments completed, reducing the backlog to 460 cases. That is a reduction of 93%, and by anyone's metric that is some reduction in the number of children who require and deserve their assessments of need to be done in a timely manner. This has led to children being put on further waiting lists, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte is working hard to get those therapies in place.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State made a point about a reduction in the backlog of assessments of need for children. They are getting their assessments of need done, but then there are no services. I am dealing with families who have had no services for their children for years. We are talking about the children's disability network teams. I am dealing with a mother who is doing a 12-week course to educate herself to enable her to provide occupational therapy to her son. The course is a good idea for that parent, but not as a replacement for the service. That is what this Government is standing over now - trying to educate a parent in six weeks to do something it takes years for a professional in college to learn and develop the required skills. It is not good enough. These vulnerable children are being failed by the Government and State. I need answers for parents now. Telling me about waiting lists being cleared so that children will have no services is not good enough. The way children with disabilities are being treated is a scandal.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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By anyone's metric, achieving a reduction of 93% in a waiting list in 12 months must be acknowledged. Since 2019, some 285 new posts have been allocated to children's disability services across the country. The diversity of posts recruited include dieticians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, speech and language therapists, nurses and some administrative support staff. These posts have been assigned based on several factors, including the existing ratio of staff to the number of children with disabilities in each area.

To return to the children's disability network teams, they will provide a continuum of care for children with special needs from birth to 18 years, reducing the need for onward referral and allowing different professionals to work as one team. This will be a fairer system, but it will have to bed down. It will cover all parts of the country so we will no longer have areas with good services and other pockets where there were effectively none.