Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I appreciate the detailed nature of his reply and his acceptance that it is not good enough that six children have waited for more than 12 months for an assessment. Does he concede, notwithstanding the investment that is clearly being made, that there is still a level of desperation being felt on the ground? Does he concede that the connectivity between his words and the reality experienced by school principals, teachers and parents in certain parts of this city does not exist? Parents need to be in their homes to help their children through their formative years, which can be a difficult period so the last thing parents need to be are campaigners. Can he assure us that any parent whose child is in need of speech therapy will not have to wait for months for therapy to be resumed? Does he accept that a situation where maternity leave breaks that service is unacceptable?