I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising this issue and offering me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Norma Foley. The Department is conscious that the cost of early learning and childcare and organised summer activities can present financial challenges for families, particularly those on lower incomes. Through a range of measures, the Government seeks to reduce these costs and improve access to high-quality, affordable childcare. A key support in this r…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As I said, childcare is a priority for the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and the Government as a whole. The Deputy is specifically referring to summer camps and recreational activities outside the NCS. Summer camps which provide early years service, that is, summer camps for children under six years of age, are considered an early years service and must therefore be registered, unless exempted as defined under section 58A of the Child Care Act, inserted by…

I thank all three Deputies for raising this really important issue and giving me the opportunity to respond. As the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, I, along with the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Government, fully recognise the importance of providing timely and appropriate supports for people with disabilities and their families. We are committed to improving access to these services across the country, including for children and families in Waterford and the south east. The HSE children's …

I thank the Deputies very much. I fully appreciate not just their frustrations but those of the parents and children they are here representing. I am pleased to be able to say that we are making progress when it comes to recruitment. The HSE reported a 28% increase in staffing levels nationwide from October 2023 to October 2025. That equates to 448 whole-time equivalents now working in HSE disability services. That includes an additional 321 who are specifically health and social care professionals. We are doing a …

I thank all Deputies for their passionate contributions on what is a very important topic. The issues highlighted are very important but we all share a common objective of ensuring people with disabilities receive timely and appropriate specialist services and placements when they need them. While there may be different views on the measures needed to achieve that objective, ultimately we are all seeking better outcomes for people with disabilities. As the Minister, Deputy Foley, outlined, substantial work is alrea…

I am not saying that.

I thank Senator Lynch for raising this important issue and offering me the opportunity to respond. Supporting people with disabilities and their families is a key priority for the Government. My Department, together with the HSE, is committed to improving disability services so that people can access the supports they need when they need them. This commitment is reflected in both the programme for Government and the new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was co-designed with disable…

To be clear, we are absolutely focused on making sure there is progress in this area, but we know there are huge challenges. We need to work through those challenges to improve access to disability services but also in being able to expand residential capacity and strengthen the supports that enable people to live independent and fulfilling lives. The Senator mentioned the figure regarding planned placements, and she is correct. However, she might not be aware that this is the first time ever we have had planned pl…

I also welcome Deputy Keira Keogh and her visitors, Ciara and Grace. I welcome Samanta Augulytė. I welcome and congratulate the new Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin city and wish her a very successful year ahead. I thank Senator McCarthy for raising this important issue. In many ways, what he has articulated here today is the need for different Departments to work collaboratively. He spoke about special education, health services, therapies and assessments of need through the Department of disability. I agree it is impo…

Absolutely. Not only can we do better, we must do better in this area. This is maybe an opportunity to reference and thank the Committee on Disability Matters for its assistance in pre-legislative scrutiny of new reforms that we will introduce from an assessments of need perspective. On top of this, we are also recruiting for therapists to ensure we have enough people to be able to deliver the care that children like Eva, James and Ger's son require. This past year, we have seen a reduction in wait lists at our chi…

I welcome the opportunity to conclude this important debate on the Minister's behalf and reflect on the range of perspectives that have been shared across the House. As the Minister set out in her opening remarks, there are three central elements that guide the programme for Government's commitment to early learning and childcare. First, while significant progress has been made, we recognise that challenges remain and are committed to addressing them. Second, meaningful and measurable improvements have already been…

I want to start by wishing everybody a really happy Pride and a really happy Pride month, especially those who are heading out to celebrate this weekend. Hopefully, the weather stays as fabulous as it has been the past couple of days for the Dublin Pride parade. Every year that I attend the Dublin Pride parade, I am struck by the sense of community, inclusion, fun, colour, energy and positivity. It brings the streets of Dublin to life and I wish everybody participating in it this year the very best. I think we can …

I thank the Deputy for this question. On 26 May, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley and I, along with the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the HSE were pleased to launch the new autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol - the autism protocol. The new protocol represents an important step in ensuring that children and adults have access to appropriate and timely autism assessment processes. The new protocol will, for the very first time, provide a standardised…

Sure. I understand.

To be clear on the timelines, since the Deputy specifically asked, this is now launched. It will be rolled out in quarter 3 of this year. Right now, we are working with teams across the country to upskill and to train them on this new system of autism protocol and pathways. It is expected that when it is fully rolled out, each of the 20 integrated health areas will have one established inreach team. This year we will recruit 11 inreach teams. The final design and respective roles of the teams are being finalised. R…

I agree with much of what the Deputy says. This is an attempt to provide alternative means for assessments. There will be three tiers in this autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol. Tier 1 is for an assessment with clear presentations of autism, tier 2 is a more detailed assessment for unclear causes using structured tools and input from multiple professionals, and tier 3 is an assessment for more complex presentations involving additional specialists and further reports. I know the Deputy has a furthe…

The Government is committed to ensuring that children with disabilities and their families who need early intervention and therapy input can access that support in a timely way. That commitment is reflected in the sizeable investment in disability services. In this year's budget alone, more than €3.8 billion has been allocated for disability services, which is an increase of €1.8 billion since 2020. As part of the budget process, funding was also secured for additional posts in children's disability network teams, …

In Balbriggan, 81% of posts are filled but the figure for Swords is only 52%. That is why we are doing so much work on our recruitment and retention strategies. I pay tribute to the staff in both CDNTs for the huge progress they have made. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the total number of CDNTs across the HSE Dublin and North East region, which includes north-west Dublin, north Dublin, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. There has been a huge increase in the number of children on open caseloads, …

Now that we have a single point of access for the HSE, that will have a huge impact and it will mean that there will be no wrong door. If a child goes to primary care and should be on a CDNT list or vice versa , they will not be put back to the start of the list again. That is a whole-of-HSE approach. The strategy we are working on at the moment is our HSE resourcing strategy. This will be about making sure we are putting the right resources in the right places. It has been very positive for the Deputy’s area in th…

As the Deputy will be aware, on 26 May, the HSE launched the new autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol, or the autism protocol. Once implemented, it will apply to all HSE and HSE-funded providers, as well as private providers. I am delighted that extensive collaboration by Government underpinned the development of the autism protocol. My Department and I remain committed to ongoing engagement with autistic individuals, families and representative organisations to continue to improve access to services…