Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I know he has been working on this because we have spoken privately about it. I am grateful that a candidate has been offered a position. The start date cannot be soon enough. A professional from the UK currently comes over once a month. In this regard, the HSE is not fit for purpose. Certainly from the perspective of parents of children with disabilities, it is just not accountable.

Staffing and recruitment are issues. The HSE should be using the work permits scheme more to find people outside of the jurisdiction to work in the sector. It does not seem to be using it as much as it should. Mark and Noelle Darmody have looked at prices to get a private assessment and it is approximately €9,000. Parents who go private should be able to claim back the cost. It is not their fault they have to go private. It is because of the lack of services we provide that they, for the good of the child, scrape to try to find money to make sure the child gets assessed as quickly as possible. On the back of the HSE's incompetence, the State should reimburse people who go privately. This should be done during the period we are waiting to get people into position so we can get the backlog fixed. That would certainly recognise the pressure parents are under at present.