Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I apologise because I meant to acknowledge the work she and her team have done to date. The situation has improved a great deal, but we also have a long way to go. I welcome that Limerick is going to be used for a pilot scheme, as the Minister of State highlighted. When I see the figures in this regard, they are stark. I refer to the number of young people needing support and care. Good work is going on in the primary care centres and with different teams. The major issue, though, is how to recruit replacement staff when vacancies occur and how to get these posts and services back up and running as quickly as possible. This is the kernel of the issue here.

There are so many organisations, like the Children's Grief Centre and others, that support care. Many of these organisations do this voluntarily. Are we seeking to expand the programme, include organisations that have the expertise and experience in this area and bring them in to work alongside the HSE team? This is just a suggestion, but anything we can do to address the waiting lists will certainly be most welcome. I look forward to a further response later regarding how we are going to reduce the waiting lists and bring down the numbers in this regard.