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

Yet again, I thank Senator Clonan and all in the House for this Bill this evening. There is no doubt that I cannot do this alone. It has to be a whole-of-government, whole-of-Seanad, and whole-of-Oireachtas approach to address the unmet need within interventions and the assessment of need.

Senator Clonan is correct that there is a cost. There is a cost to the training and ensuring that we have the people to do it. It is a whole-of-government approach. A whole-of-systems change and a whole-of-culture change are required. It is not just one cog that is required at this moment in time, it is a number of cogs. As I said earlier, I am not a clinician or a manager in the HSE. I am a mere politician, one who recognises that it is a system that is flawed but well intended, with really good workers within it who want to do their best. It is our job to ensure that the HSE is supported, and that the Department's officials are supported to ensure that support for disabilities - it must be led from the top with real leadership from the Taoiseach – is provided and that the commitment that the Taoiseach has signalled is actually brought to fruition. It is my job to work with the Taoiseach and all here, with my Dáil colleagues and, most importantly, with the organisations that are tasked to support and deliver assessments and interventions and to drive down our waiting lists.

We do this for the families but, most importantly, we do this for the people who need it - the child or the adult who needs the intervention.