Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to the House. I raise an issue of great concern to many, including the Leader.

We have learned this week that children who may have been sexually abused have to wait for up to seven months for assessment. A child who is deemed a priority case will be assessed at Crumlin or Temple Street Hospital where they will be seen within three months. In a recent newspaper article, a general practitioner who is a member of the Eastern Regional Health Authority expressed his great concern that children could be left in such a distressed state for so long. The protection of the child must be the priority and we are not serving children by forcing them to wait so long before being assessed.