Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I take on board what the Minister of State said. He spoke of delays and the burden on social workers to do almost two projects simultaneously. What is his assessment of the reason for the two and half to three year waiting period? Is it due to a staffing issue, the thoroughness of the work involved in the assessments or an administrative blockage? Within the remit of the existing legislation, should it not be possible to progress assessments more quickly? Are the delays due to a lack of staff or a lack of other resources?