Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator O'Loughlin. As I said, the €7.8 million was to address the backlog. I am on top of the redeployment piece. There was a successful budget last week, out of which money was circled for the recruitment of additional staff, including another 100 therapist posts. Some 100 therapists were secured under the most recent programme for Government. It is sad to think that the last of those staff members to come on board, in early March, went straight into contact tracing. They did not get to hit the ground running. I want them brought back into the profession for which they were hired. I also want the new posts that we were going to advertise to be filled in order that when the proper assessments of needs are completed for the backlog of cases, we will have therapists in place to carry out the interventions. Three items of work are being done, that is, recruitment, early intervention and assessment of need. I have made it my priority within the Department that those children and parents will be looked after every step of the way and not be left waiting.