David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the Minister of State, but I tabled a number of commencement notices and there was a mix-up on my part. There was one on waiting times at the hospital and another on waiting times for children with disabilities. The latter is the one that was selected for today.

I welcome the six additional therapy posts. It is important that children with disabilities have access to early intervention and as much support as they can possibly get. That is certainly good news. There has also been some good news where there were delays in carrying out assessments due to the assessment team not being at full complement on foot of a number of posts which were not filled, including a senior child psychologist post. I understand the HSE is buying in those services now and that all children will be assessed before the end of the year, which I welcome.

If he can, I ask the Minister of State to bring the first issue back to the Minister for Health which is the issue of what happened in University Hospital Waterford with ambulances being diverted. A senior consultant who works in the accident and emergency ward was on a Waterford local radio station this week and said it could happen again. As somebody who lives in the south east, I doubt that is something the Minister of State could stand over or would want to see happen. It is a very serious and urgent issue and I ask the Minister of State to bring it to the attention of the Minister for Health.