Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response, and for her last comment. She hit the nail on the head with regard to the challenges many of us, as public representatives, daily come across. I talked about the lack of joined-up thinking between education and our health system. I am grateful for the detail provided by the Minister of State. One of my outstanding questions concerns the extent to which this represents new staff, or the reallocation of existing staff within CHO 9. We talk about overall shortages, and I welcome the establishment of the assessment hub and the efforts she is putting in to ensure we cut back on the disgraceful backlog in the assessment of need. I know there is a recruitment drive by the HSE, but we need to understand how successful that is. We are not necessarily seeing that on the ground at the moment. I know it will take time, but it is important to understand whether this is an additional service within CHO 9, or a reallocation of existing personnel into the assessment hub.