Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to recognise that, while those two specific cases were very clearly brought to this Chamber, I know they are representative of a much wider cohort, not just in Cavan, but around the country. The Senator is right to ask what the workforce plan is and what the solution is to make sure that those children do not just get assessed in time but get that one-on-one contact with the therapists they need. Budget 2026 has provided €20 million for the delivery of some 6,000 clinical assessments to the targeted waiting list and a further €8 million has been secured in the budget to allow for the funding of 150 additional posts to the children and disability network teams. Over the last five years, the disabilities workforce in the HSE and section 38 providers has grown by over 21%. This is the key issue and it is mirrored in relation to additional places in our third level institutions. We need more staff. The more staff we have, the more people will get their assessments and therapies. We are working on a concrete plan to make sure that is rolled out in a timely manner.