Results 4,781-4,800 of 10,832 for speaker:Anne Rabbitte

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: At present, the independent chair and the review team are working away, but I continuously engage with the clinicians and parents. It is the feedback and delivery of services. The most important piece in all this is the timely intervention of the delivery of services. That is what this is about. That is why I am letting it go through its process at present. I will not pre-empt the end...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: That is an excellent question, and I do not have the answer. However, I will get the answer and provide it to the committee. I do not want anybody to leave. I really want to advocate for recruitment into the network disability teams. It is not a matter of losing staff. We had lost staff and it is important to acknowledge that staff were repurposed due to Covid, to swabbing and contact...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: I am glad to say that I had the committee's support and I listened to my Oireachtas colleagues as I said in my opening statement, in relation to the pausing of the removal of therapists from the special schools. I also had the support of the Taoiseach's office.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: With the decision to pause it, I have to be fair and say that perhaps I did catch the HSE wrong-footed with it. We are working on a solution to build up the team and not reduce services. By no means do we want to reduce any services whatsoever. It is all about building up the network disability teams. While a clinician or a post might still be held within a special school, it still forms...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: That is not the first time that Deputy Crowe has raised the last matter. He also raised it at the last committee meeting that I was at. If I could be so bold as to suggest, perhaps the Minister of State with responsibility for special education should come to answer those questions. It is not for me to answer that particular question but I understand and hear the Deputy's frustration. He...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: Other than what Deputy Crowe says, disability crosses many fields and Departments. Even within the Department of Health, I did not realise the complexities of it myself until I received this brief. Disability crosses into primary care which is under the remit of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. It crosses into CAMHS and psychology, which is under the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: To be honest, I would like to co-operate with Deputy Dillon on the issue he has raised, such as the application of the 2007 circular in the context of the pandemic. I will be meeting the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, and I will raise those issues with her. It is no different from early years education or anything else like that. The pandemic has held up...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: I got an answer. That night when Deputy Sherlock asked the question, I contacted the Department straight away because to me that was startling. Patsy within the Department made contact to discover that the reply to the parliamentary question received by Deputy Sherlock related to a point in time in December. That is the reconciliation because, to be honest, it was a very clear figure. I...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: That was the reason I insisted on meeting with the chair. I have set out my concerns and fears to him. I was not guiding, directing or interfering by any manner or means, because it is an independent HSE-Fórsa review that is taking place. At the same time, I want to ensure that the child is at the centre of the process. "Yes" is the answer to Deputy Sherlock's question on whether he...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: I will start at the end. Deputy Costello asked me whether I would meet with the Dublin 12 group. I think I have met the Dublin 6 group. I come from Portumna in County Galway, where Dublin 6, Dublin 4 and Dublin 12 are all the same to me. I will happily meet the group mentioned by Deputy Costello. The Deputy should contact Noel in my office and we will happily sit in on a meeting. Any of...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: A question was asked about the complaints and the 14-month delay. I might not have answered the question from Deputy Costello but he was addressing the same point. To be honest I have met with the HSE several times about this. Where there was a reconfiguration of services and an assessment going through primary care and network disability teams, it baffled me how four years or 40 months was...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: The Senator is right regarding the point about therapists. I did not have the answer for Deputy Cairns and I do not have an answer for the Senator on what the turnover is like. In the past, we have not built in enough capacity to support the turnover. The reason we have turnover is because it is very stressful unless there are enough people on the teams to make it work. That is where the...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: I have listened to all the commentary since this committee was formed. To be fair to the Chair and the entire committee, they have focused on this standard operating procedure, SOP. It was part of the pre-Covid transition in January before I arrived as Minister of State. I am not making excuses, but it was already in place. The committee looked into it, brought in the Ombudsman, whom we...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: My understanding is that it is indicative. That was one of my concerns. In the feedback some clinicians would have said 90 minutes is too short. I would have queried that 90-minute process. We need to allow flexibility among the clinicians carrying out assessments. When a person goes in the front door, if it takes longer than 90 minutes to get the assessment done, let it take longer. I...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: The diagnosis of the child’s needs will determine how long an assessment will take.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: I am getting advice on this. What I am led to believe is that it is built in. I can get the Deputy further clarification on that, or I will provide clarification on what "built in" means it to the committee. Does that make sense?

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: Not at all.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: If that falls within the disability services, the family need to contact the disability service manager within that CHO.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: First and foremost, I have nine CHO disability managers in the country. They meet me every month, so they are in place - they exist.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Children's Unmet Needs: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Health (Resumed) (11 May 2021)

Anne Rabbitte: Every €1 that comes through the CHOs goes through our disability managers in the CHOs. If that home care is provided through the disability services, that is the person the parent needs to contact. They will work to signpost and address the issues that the Senator has raised regarding the quality of the audit piece and, perhaps most importantly, the service level agreement that they...