Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the Minister of State is a compassionate individual who feels strongly about this issue. What time does he think is reasonable to wait from the diagnosis of a child just like Abigail to the beginning of intervention? What time does he aim for? What is his vision? Does he feel that three years is too long? I am sure that he does. What is a reasonable length of time for a family in this scenario to wait? I mean the families that have children like Abigail.

I do not think it is good enough for a family to be stressed over waiting for an intervention. They will have to deal with this diagnosis for many years to come as will other members of the family. Everybody around the family will be clued in to this issue. There is a constant state of conflict with agencies that are supposed to surround people with care and compassion. As happens in other jurisdictions when there is a diagnosis like this, one automatically feels as if there is a team of people working with the family and the child to improve his or her circumstances. The situation is completely different in Ireland where one feels almost completely abandoned and must work through this by oneself. The stress, as one can appreciate, is quite substantial. I ask the Minister of State the following again. What timescale does he think is appropriate from the time that a child gets a diagnosis to the time that the early intervention team can click into place? Are we working towards that timeframe? Then we can have a sense that we are all working together.