Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this very important matter. It was in February of this year that I raised this matter previously with Deputy Collins's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. The issue is the need to find out what the waiting times for assessments of need are in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7 area, the area where I live, and to reduce them. On the day in question, I was presented with figures from the HSE which included a figure of 1,320 individuals and their families who were waiting on an assessment of need. In fairness to Deputy Rabbitte, she was very honest in her contribution on the day. I will recall what she said at that time because it is very important. She stated:

It is important for me to be honest and transparent with the Senator. [...] The Senator is after getting a script but I need to correct something on it. It states "CHO 7 currently reports 1,320". Thankfully, Noel in my office kept digging until ... [he got the correct figure, which was 2,665, a lot more than the figure provided by the HSE] ... That is the number of families in CHO 7 awaiting an assessment of need.

She went on to describe the situation as "Groundhog Day" and said:

That is as bad as it can get. To be honest, the HSE has not kept pace with the growth in population as shown in the census returns. Funding has not kept pace with the disability sector and the growing population. It is important to say that.

In subsequent conversations I have had with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in this House and in conversations she has had in the Dáil, she has mentioned that she is in the process of setting up six regional hubs to tackle the delays on waiting lists once and for all. However, in the reply to a recent parliamentary question put by my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, Bernard O'Regan, head of operations in the HSE's disability services, gave a figure of 1,986 families in my area who are waiting on an assessment of need. Some 1,596 of these families have been waiting for longer than three months. The reply went on to describe an assessment of need administrative hub being set up being set up in CHO areas 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 and stated that assessment hubs have been established in CHO areas 3, 6 and 9. I would appreciate it if, in his reply today, the Minister of State could outline the difference between an administrative hub and an assessment hub. In my own area, CHO 7, are we disadvantaged by only having an administrative hub rather than the assessment hub other CHO areas have? In his reply, the Minister of State might also confirm the correct number of families waiting on an assessment of need in CHO 7.Has the figure that was given to me by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, reduced from 2,665 to 1,986 or has the figure the HSE provided on the day risen from 1,320 to the figure quoted in the recent parliamentary question response of 1,986?

The reason that has been put down again is that behind those figures there are families. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, knows that but unfortunately I am not sure if everybody in the HSE realises it. A family I mentioned on that day, last February, from my home town of Athy, has still not heard anything about an assessment of need. The last time one was carried out for their young son was in 2012. They were offered a preliminary team assessment in 2021 and the High Court has overruled that, yet this family is still trying to get an assessment of need for their son. I mention that piece of paper, as I have described it before, that all families need, even though the HSE and the Minister of State on the day told us it was not needed. Everywhere I talk to families they are asked for their assessment of need first.

Campaigners like young Cara Dermody, who I met today, have highlighted the waiting lists time and again. I am sure that not a week goes by that the Minister of State and all colleagues in this House do not get a call from a family or families on assessments of need and on trying to improve their waiting times. I look forward to the Minister of State's reply and I hope he can explain some of the issues in that parliamentary question response.