Mattie McGrath
Tipperary South · Independent · Ireland
“The loss of the double child benefit payment and other cost-of-living supports has come at a time when families are facing rising bills across every aspect of daily life. Parents are not just paying for education. They are paying more for food, energy, insurance, childcare and gach rud eile.”
“Parents also face substantial bills simply because they are required to buy specific items from a specific supplier. That is not fair and is not a balanced market either. There is no good reason that generic uniforms or PE clothing cannot be used in most cases.”
“Maidir le hUisce Éireann, cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan uisce? The situation in south Tipperary has reached crisis point. Since January, the Ardfinnan regional water scheme has experienced 58 water supply interruptions, affecting 11,000 customers, while almost 28,000 homes and businesses were placed on a boil water notice in a single week.…”
“Music education is a perfect example. Some schools provide excellent music programmes and opportunities for students to learn instruments and participate in assemblies. Other schools offer very little.”
“I, too, am glad to be able to speak on this motion today. I compliment Páirtí an Lucht Oibre for introducing it. While we often the cost of education in terms of books, uniforms and transport, the reality for many families is that the financial pressures associated with rearing children have never been greater.”
“They say it would be great to have water to be affected by a hosepipe ban. Uisce Éireann is totally out of control. Two weeks ago, the Tánaiste gave me some hope here that the Government might do something. Uisce Éireann is not acting for anybody.”
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“I might as well address the so-called freedom fighters of Independent Ireland. A Deputy brought an outside person into this House with a tripod and camera. That person made appalling videos and denigrated the excellent staff of this House in the restaurant and the excellent cuisine on offer there.”
“We saw what happened last night in the Chamber when they had a Gallery full of people here to organise a ruckus with flags and banners. I said to the Head Usher today that the Sinn Féin TD who signed those people who misbehaved in last night should be restricted from having visitors here again.”
“The problem with these lads and ladies is that they are not fit for government, full stop. They have proven that in the North. They have not yet shaken off the legacy of bullying, intimidation, kneecapping and everything else.”
“It is a wonder that they do not have the Saor Éire flag flying over them as well. They tried to deny us speaking rights. Deputy Nolan, who can speak for herself, and I are Independents. We are not in any group. They wanted to muzzle us. They do not like what we say because we tell the truth.”
“I want to turn to Sinn Féin and Deputy Gould, with the permission of the Chair. You were not here, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Deputy Gould was lecturing people for not being here. I do not see many Sinn Féin people here either. He does not understand - the Ceann Comhairle had to point it out to him - that there are committees sitting and there are lots of side meetings going on. Those in Sinn Féin have the answer to everything but can do nothing. They were missing in action during the five years of the previous Government. They went into hiding and paid the price for that in the general election. Their behaviour here is that they joined in with other groups - left, left and more left. Then there are those in the so-called know-everything party, Independent Ireland.”
“There are legions of officials - columns of them - coming along with different identification and flashing badges at people when they might be at their lowest. They might be missing employees through sickness or something. They might have a funeral group coming into a hotel or something else might have happened. These people are on travel expenses, driving around the country. NERA now has five different offices in various regions. As I said, these people need to be reined in and asked chun cabhrú leis na gnóthaí beaga, to help the businesses. I am not saying anyone should be breaking the law in this area, but they should be there to help and support these businesses, not all the time waving the big stick and flashing the card. If you go in and say a word to them and make a complaint, you are in another situation.”
“One way of supporting them would be to give them a level playing field and some space and a bit of encouragement. There are organisations like the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA. I have said countless times in this House what I think about NERA. Its name should be changed to a support organisation for employers. They walk in flashing the card at a minute past midnight insisting on a different wage structure per hour for employees. This has happened to businesses in my county and every other county. They should be in during the day asking the management team, "How can we help you?" These are tough times for those in business. I see that the Leas-Cheann Comhairle has taken over in the Chair. As a self-employed businessman, he understands this intimately. These are tough times.”
“There were about ten or 12 of them. They were shaking hands and saying they missed me at the committee meeting earlier. I am not on that committee any more. Anyway, I refer to the number of bogus self-employed people in RTÉ. It was with the knowledge of Ministers for at least a decade and a half, and that of the Department of Finance and the Department of employment. Strange happenings were going on out there and are still going on out there. There have also been court cases and settlements have been made. Who pays for these settlements? It is taxpayers who are funding RTÉ. Deputy Nolan spoke about the ordinary punter and the small businesses, and keeping na doirse oscailte sna siopaí, sna óstáin and the restaurants and everyplace else. They must be supported. It is vital that they are supported.”
“Many good employees are working in those companies too, and young graduates. As I said, however, they have questions to answer too about the crash, its aftermath and the continuing situation in our country. Employees must be protected. The Ceann Comhairle will know about and is very interested in the area of self-employment and employing people. It is a two-way street. If you treat your employees with dignity, respect and good manners, then you will have positive employer-employee relationships. I refer as well to paying the proper rates of PRSI and the proper insurance schemes and whatever else for them, and also including health and safety. All the other legislation must be looked at too. We then have the big companies that have bogus self-employed people. I met a legion of RTÉ officials leaving the complex.”
“The end of it is that the co-op has lost its identity. Tipperary co-op is no more, with the resulting impact on 30 or 40 employees in a town in an area of west County Tipperary that has been ravaged by unemployment and a lack of investment. Deputy Nolan referred to several reports by PwC and others. No matter what goes on for this Government, the only answer it seems to have is to get PwC or some of the other big finance houses involved. There are only a couple of them and they have tentacles in everything. We had them as well. I remember when these companies gave a clear bill of health to the banks in 2007 and 2008 before the crash. There is a kind of a cosy circle and arrangement whereby these people are wheeled in all the time to give advice. Whatever advice you want to get, they will give it.”
“I refer to what happened to the Debenhams workers and the staff of some of the bigger co-ops. In my case, the local co-op started out as south Tipperary farmers' small co-ops. It became Avonmore, then Glanbia and is now Tirlán. I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will be well aware of this in her area too. It is now a huge company. There is also Kerry Group, and a couple of others. I was forever praising the likes of the Mullinahone co-op and the Tipperary co-op, now Arrabawn Tipperary co-op. The Tipperary co-op ran into difficulties recently and had to amalgamate. Its workers are being displaced due to that amalgamation. I salute the board members of the co-op down through the decades who held the reins tightly. The co-op got in these whizz-kids, however, and they went mad with borrowing. They got themselves into major trouble.”
“I am not saying I want shortcuts, because I do not. For every five employees that people have now, you would need to have a secretary to deal with all the paperwork in light of the reams of legislation involved. It is impossible to understand these requirements without having a quasi-legal insight or a draft of the legislation. It is not possible to keep up with it. It is very onerous, and this is turning many people off being self-employed. People who are self-employed are walking away. I have seen people who have left and gone to Canada and Australia. The cost of living and of houses are both high over there too, but they can run a business, have employees and abide by the relevant legislation. They are able to make a profit and come home here and try to set up a business. We want to encourage this too. The bureaucracy here is crazy.”
“I also welcome this legislation. I hope it would be of interest to Deputy Gould in the context of the lecture he was giving people here. I wish to declare that I am a part of a company that employs up to 25 people. I am sure the Ceann Comhairle is well aware of this aspect, particularly as she was self-employed for years. Many small businesspeople are ag déanamh a ndícheall i gcónaí. They are doing their very best to keep the doors open. This legislation is welcome, but, from an employer's perspective, I have to highlight the amount of legislation, changes and EU directives that have come about in the past 20 years. When I started in business 40 bliain ó shin, actually it is 41 years, in 1982 or 1983, it was simple enough at that time. We did our books, had our account and everything else. Now, everything must be right.”
“There will be parliamentarians from many of the countries affected by this savagery and brutality. It is extensive and we must be a voice against that also.”
“We must use it and use it strongly. Humanitarian aid must flow unimpeded. Medical supplies, food and clean water are not luxuries - they are rights. Ireland must press for safe humanitarian corridors. A ceasefire is the first step but peace will only come through justice, accountability and respect for international law on all sides. Let us be clear that Ireland stands for peace, neutrality and the protection of life. There are other parts of the world where there is massive slaughter of Christians going on on a daily, if not hourly, basis. The world’s leaders and media seem to turn a blind eye to it. That is reprehensible and totally unacceptable. I will travel in August to meet the International Catholic Legislators Network, ICLN. We debate that each year.”
“I speak with a heavy heart as we witness the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the slaughter of innocent civilians caught up in the crossfire of a brutal and unrelenting conflict. This suffering demands not only our sympathy, but our swift action. Ireland has a proud tradition of neutrality, of standing actively for peace and international law and for the protection of human dignity. That tradition must guide us now. We must call unequivocally for an immediate and sustained ceasefire. The violence must end. We must support the deployment and protection of neutral UN peacekeeping forces to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian aid reaches those who most need it. Our neutrality is not passive; it is principled and always has been. It gives us the moral authority to be a voice for peace on the international stage.”
“We had an apology this evening, and a very profound one, from the Minister for Justice. This is clearly unacceptable. It is scary. My late brother was a paediatrician of some renown and I cannot imagine what he would think about what is happening today. It is just not acceptable. CHI came from the HSE and it is being given back to the HSE now. There are fundamental failures there. We need true independence.”
“Families deserve to know the full truth and not be given sanitised summaries or bureaucratic brush offs. The audit must be thorough, independent in the true sense and patient focused. Anything less would be an insult to those children who may be living with lifelong consequences. Furthermore, the lack of clear national guidelines or oversight on indicators for complex orthopaedic interventions such as pelvic osteotomy is unacceptable. This is not only a clinical matter. It is a systemic governance failure that must be addressed by the HSE, the Department of Health and the House. We need to listen to families, protect and support whistleblowers and ensure no child is ever again subjected to any procedure that may not be necessary. We have to have changes. There is no point in coming in here.”
“The findings on the use of pelvic osteotomy in children with developmental hip dysplasia raises deeply troubling concerns, not only for the families directly affected but for public confidence in paediatric care in this country. We are speaking about children, vulnerable young patients whose parents trusted the health system to do right by them. Serious questions now hang over whether some of these children underwent invasive surgery unnecessarily or without proper clinical justification. This is a frightening prospect and it demands full transparency, accountability and urgency in response. I welcome the commissioning of an independent external medical audit but I believe we have to go outside of the country, and not to Northern Ireland, to get true independence for a proper audit. Let me be very clear.”
“Lucia O'Farrell is still fighting to get statements and information and she cannot even find out whether the man who killed her son is in this jurisdiction now or where he is. She will not be told. She is not being treated respectfully by An Garda Síochána, which is shameful. Judge O'Hagan had all these strong words that he would send him to jail. Was there any follow-up on that? Did he not have any powers to ask why he was not told? It is a sad vista. I could call it GUBU but I will not. It is systematic in our State. Cover-up and circling of the wagons is going on and will continue to go on, and it is shameful.”
“I can talk about the Strokestown Four, a recent case, or the Omagh and Monaghan bombings and the fact we did not have a public inquiry into the Omagh bombing. I sat in my office and met the garda who drove the bomb to the Border that night, but nothing was done about it. The Government parties will not even co-operate with the British inquiry into the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland. They are laggards in that respect. Many other families are left there, so I do not know what hope Lucia and her family will take away from this debate. It is grand to debate it. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle, knows, as he, like me, has been raising it for more than a decade, that it is the system that covers up like this.”
“We in this House cannot pretend this was a tragic accident alone. It was a systematic failure compounded by cover-up, delay and the disgraceful treatment of a grieving family. I consistently called for a public inquiry, not for limited reviews or reports written behind closed doors, but a transparent, independent tribunal with the power to compel witnesses to get to the heart of the matter. This apology must be followed up with action. Words mean nothing without justice. As I said, I do not have great faith in it. I welcome the Minister's words and apology and commend him on the scholarship in memory of Shane, but we have too many legacies. I go back to the Fr. Niall Molloy case from the 1980s who was murdered in a house.”
“Today's apology by the Government is long overdue. While welcome, it cannot undo the deep pain and injustice endured by the O'Farrell family for more than a decade. Shane O'Farrell was a bright, compassionate young man whose life was stolen in the most avoidable of circumstances and the system utterly failed him. I salute the O'Farrell family who are here today for all the work they have done. From the outset I stood with Lucia and the family. Why would I not? It was my duty. I salute the courage of, and pursuit of truth by, the O'Farrell family. The facts are undeniable. The man who killed Shane should not have been on the roads that day. He had a litany of offences and was in breach of bail, a suspended sentence and probation orders. Yet, the State through its courts, prosecution services and An Garda turned a blind eye.”
“Everybody has been talking about it. The people of Dundrum have a peaceful protest there. They are good decent people who looked after the Ukrainian refugees very well. This continuing blackguarding of a community is shameful.”
“The Government's own guidelines state it cannot change the demographics by more than 5%. This is a shocking vista and it is continuing. What happened to the pause the Tánaiste told me was on it? Why was the contract signed before the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, took charge of this situation from the Department of integration? This is shocking. One doctor has written to the Tánaiste.”
“The shocking treatment of the community and people of Dundrum in County Tipperary is ongoing by the Government, as it was by the previous Government. The Tánaiste met Mrs. O'Dwyer and Andrea Crowe in Clonmel during the election and he listened to them. He also assured me here after the election, when he was appointed as Tánaiste, that a pause was being put on the use of hotels. Now we find a contract has been signed, by some faceless and nameless official, with a Spanish company with a book value of €120 while there are three serious court cases going on at the High Court on ownership and the carry on in the premises. The Government has signed a €20 million contract for 277 IPAS people to be placed in a village where there were 220 people according to the most recent census.”
“We are especially looking for people on the schemes who are in their late 50s to be allowed to stay on them until they retire, because there is little possibility of them retraining and going back to work. Our scheme has been successful in progression. That is part of our problem because we have put people back to work as self-employed and into jobs. It has been great because it benefits the participants and the community. I appreciate that the Minister is trying to tweak it and that he will do so. I look forward to a positive outcome where our schemes continue to do the valuable work they are doing in Tipperary.”
“I acknowledge the work they do. A man on the volunteer boards went to places in Tipperary like Knockanrawley FRC, Millennium FRC in Glengoole and of course Spafield FRC in Cashel. Recent data have shown there are 106 vacancies now across the schemes in Tipperary. It is difficult at this time of year to cover everything, including Tidy Towns, the GAA, community groups and all the other issues, such as meals on wheels and community centres. We just do not have enough staff. I thank the officials we deal with in the Department who help us out and have given us rollover extensions to keep the schemes alive because we cannot get the participants. The participants are needed so the criteria must be made easier to meet.”
“The people on our CE scheme work with the supervisor Seán Byrne over three villages, Ballymacarbry, Newcastle and Ballybacon, that straddle two counties. It brings things together as well. Tipperary might have been on the hurling field last week against Waterford but we work together with a ní neart go cur le chéile attitude and that is the way it is. I compliment all the participants on all the schemes throughout Tipperary and everywhere else. They do a meaningful job and they do not get much reward at times. They get little remuneration, but they do excellent work.”
“I thank the Minister. I know he is hands on. He understands it because he is from a rural community. There is just an impossible strain on the voluntary boards that are trying to fill these positions, trying to get the work done and keeping the whole plethora of areas going. Schemes such as rural transport services, meals on wheels, day care, community centres and Tidy Towns groups are under enormous strain. While many of the groups receive State support, that is no good if they do not have the workers. The scheme needs to be tweaked. Some years ago, people were allowed, if they had done three years and were a certain age, to carry on their work until retirement age. That needs to be looked at again. That was allowed. We are told we nearly have full employment and it is hard to get participants.”
“I ask the Minister about community employment, CE, schemes and the fact that it is now almost impossible to retain participants on them. I am chair of a scheme. I know it is not totally the Minister's remit, but it has a huge impact on rural organisations, rural communities and their viability and sustainability. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?”
“We must also address the dire need for respite services. A recent report indicates that nearly three quarters of carers have never received any form of respite. This is totally unacceptable. Implementing a minimum respite guarantee would provide much-needed relief to these dedicated individuals. We are currently not treating these carers with the dignity they deserve. They are saving the State a fortune and, in return, the State is abusing their goodwill by not providing them with decent services. I urge the Government to take decisive action, to abolish the means test for carer's allowance, to standardise pay across all care sectors and to ensure timely access to home support and respite services. Our carers deserve recognition, respect and robust support but, unfortunately, they are not getting them.”
“Furthermore, the issue of home support services remains pressing. Despite an allocation of €830 million for home support in 2025, there are still over 6,000 individuals languishing on waiting lists. Think about that; there are 6,000 individuals languishing on a waiting list. It beggars belief. This shortfall is not due to a lack of funding but stems from recruitment and retention challenges within the sector. What are we doing to address these challenges? We are not doing very much. These challenges have been ongoing for a number of years now. Carers are doing a good job. We need rationalisation and recruitment so that we will have staff. Along with every other TD, I regularly get calls from people who have been approved for home help but there is no one to do the job. The HSE sees the box as ticked. That is not acceptable.”
“I support the motion. In my constituency of Tipperary and across the nation, family carers are the unsung heroes who provide unwavering support to their loved ones, which often requires great personal and financial sacrifice. These carers, numbering more than 500,000, save the State an estimated €20 billion annually - imagine that figure - through their unpaid labour yet many are subjected to a means test that is both outdated and completely unjust and which disqualifies them from essential supports. While budget 2025 increased the income disregard thresholds, this measure falls short of the comprehensive reform needed. It is imperative that we move towards abolishing this means test. I compliment Councillor Richie Molloy, the manager of south Tipperary carers, all of the managers and all of the carers who provide such wonderful care.”
“We talked about the dirty dozen cuts by Charlie McCreevy in the past. This is so mean-spirited and we expect voluntary organisations like the Order of Malta, Civil Defence and Red Cross to burn out their ambulances and staff, who are volunteers, while officials and fat cats go around the conferences and everything else. Bring back the matrons to the hospitals to make the savings and have the hospitals clean, not plethoras of management who are not managing. They were never managers in the first place. Some of them got into those jobs by pull. It is a shocking situation when we treat vulnerable people in our society like this and the Minister of State cannot argue against it.”
“We are taking on people - of course we are - in management jobs. Self-serving officials: that is what is wrong in the HSE. We have spineless Ministers who will not challenge them. We have spent five hours tonight talking about it here, all sides of the House condemning what is going on in the HSE. We have these mean, hungry, desperate cuts to vulnerable people. Thankfully, they will get radium injections or other treatment. What about a person who is paraplegic or an amputee? What about the people who have severe diabetes or many other conditions? We are picking and choosing who is sick and vulnerable while we have fat cats getting fatter and we have board members of the HSE, the runaway cost of the children's hospital and the disgraceful, diabolical lack of management and accountability. Then we make these mean cuts.”
“I do not know. I remember six months ago, when the Minister of State was not in government and, like me, she was crying out about this. It is not a massive increase from €88,000 in 2019 to €127,000 in 2024; it is nothing in the scheme of things. The Minister of State mentioned all the extra staff. How many of them are penpushers and executives in made-up jobs - that is what they are - and not nurses or front-line staff? It is a shocking situation. A month ago, I stood in Clonmel in front of St. Joseph's Hospital for the opening of the Slievenamon wing. I met a number of new executives, many of whom were from the Minister of State's area. I mean no disrespect to them, but they had positions that we never had before, namely, executives, directors of this and that and directors of everything, except patient care.”
“Earlier, the House spent five hours - Cara Darmody was in the Gallery with her dad - debating people's access to assessments of need and how the HSE was breaking the law hourly by not providing those assessments. Why are we allowing this cabal in the HSE to run amok, do what it likes, neglect people and flout the laws?”
“This is about dignity, equality of access and the right to timely medical care regardless of a person's address or income. Who made the decision to unilaterally cut this without any engagement? Why were the cuts made with no public consultation, no Dáil debate and no local agreement or engagement? Where is the assessment of the human cost to this? Will the Minister of State commit to immediately reviewing the criteria for access to patient transport services in Tipperary with a view to restoring full service? How can faceless bureaucrats decide this? When I was elected to this House in 2007, the budget for the HSE was approximately €7 billion. Now, it is €24 billion and growing every year. How come it is affecting the most vulnerable?”
“He has no family. His neighbour who used to bring him to his appointments passed away a month ago and he had no one else to transport him to Cork. He was too frail to use public transport, as it was non-existent in the first place. A taxi would have cost him €120; half of his pension would have been gone in one appointment. It is such a shocking situation. In another case, a woman with a paraplegic daughter required an ambulance transfer. This woman literally had no other option. She could not just get a neighbour to drive her. In the end, she was forced to beg a voluntary organisation to transfer her and her daughter to her daughter's appointment, which did happen thanks to the volunteers and the voluntary ambulance. This is not a question of convenience.”
“I have been contacted by families, carers and community groups who are at breaking point. They are being told that transport is no longer available, services are being rationalised - that lovely word - and, in some cases, patients must find alternative arrangements. What alternatives do they have in rural parishes? Public transport is limited or non-existent in much of Tipperary. Many of those patients are already frail, wheelchair users or recovering from major surgeries. They cannot drive themselves. Their family members may be working or living abroad. The result is missed appointments, delayed treatments and worsening conditions. Ultimately, this leads to pressure being piled back on our hospitals through avoidable admissions to accident and emergency departments. In one case, a man waited four years - 48 months - for an appointment.”
“Ar an gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue, albeit to be taken after midnight. There is a concerning issue affecting the lives and health of many vulnerable people across County Tipperary, namely, the unacceptable and short-sighted cuts to hospital patient transport services. For many in rural areas of Tipperary, especially the elderly, the sick and those on low incomes, access to hospital appointments in places such as Clonmel, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Dublin depends entirely on the patient transport services provided by the HSE or voluntary organisations, such as the Red Cross, Civil Defence and the Order of Malta, which I salute for the work they do. These are not luxury services; they are essential lifelines.”
“We will not have any action after this, either. I am convinced we will not because the HSE is not accountable to anyone. It flouts the Disability Act 2005 and every other Act as well. We bring in these Acts and proclaim how great they are, but they are only for some people. It is an appalling vista that this has to go on. We all deal with families who are traumatised, impoverished and deflated. The HSE has already spent €8 million fighting parents. Just think about. Some €8 million has been spent fighting parents to deny them the rights to which they are entitled under the Constitution. It is a shocking and depressing situation. I salute Cara, her family and her supporters. This situation is just not good enough or acceptable in this day and age. We will have this debate and rub our hands and it will all go on in its merry way.”
“The HSE prefers to recruit lines of senior managers and senior executives. I met them at the opening of the Slievenamon wing in Clonmel some weeks ago. I was introduced to several people who I had never seen before. While they have big jobs and titles, they will not look after the basic needs of the people. It is an appalling vista. Bhí mé thuas san Áiléar Poiblí earlier, and chonaic mé Cara ag foghlaim na Gaeilge. She was doing her homework here tonight. She should be at home with her brothers and with her friends, as has been said, rather than being in this situation where she has to sleep outside the Dáil in this appalling weather. It is unbelievable. She has met four or five taoisigh during her campaign. It was all promises and no empathy. There may have been empathy, but there was no action.”
“I agree with most of what people have said tonight. It is a shocking situation. I welcome Cara and her dad. I think of her mam at home as well as her two brothers. It is such an indictment. I know Cara lives in a lovely house in Ardfinnan. Looking out her back window, she can see the Liam Lynch monument, a man who gave his life for our freedom and democracy in this country. What has it come to now? We have the HSE, an organisation set up 25 years ago just to put buffers between the Government and the public who are entitled to services. It is allowed to break the law consistently without any repercussions whatsoever. What have we come to in this State when we can spend three hours making statements on this issue and then debate this motion, but nothing will change? It is getting worse, in fact.”
“We need urgent reform, we need accountability and above all we need to put our children and not bureaucracy at the centre of this system.”
“She is a young girl from Ardfinnan, just beside me, in Tipperary, who has spoken with so many and has started a sleepover outside Leinster House. She was given commitments, as were countless other families, but promises mean nothing without delivery. It is time for the Government to act decisively and establish a mandatory fund as proposed in the joint Opposition motion to clear the existing backlog. It should set a definite timeline for compliance with legal obligations under the Disability Act. It should invest in sustainable solutions, including the recruitment and training of additional staff to meet current and future needs. Indeed, we owe it to these children and their families to uphold their rights and provide the support they need. These rights are enshrined in the Constitution.”
“They are forced to become full-time advocates, legal experts and indeed campaigners just to get their children what they are entitled to and what is owed to them. In Tipperary, the situation is particularly dire. As of March this year, there were 233 children and young people awaiting an autism assessment, while the wait time for assessments for a new referral is currently 48 months. That is four years. It is shocking. On top of this stress, the Government has spent €8 million on legal proceedings against parents seeking assessments for their children. This is a misallocation of resources that could have been better spent on providing the necessary assessments and supports. We have had report after report and commitment after commitment, yet the situation continues to deteriorate. I commend Cara Darmody and her father and mother.”
“The crisis surrounding the assessment of needs process for children with disabilities sees it not just under severe strain. It is a system in breach of its legal obligations, leaving thousands of children without access to vital supports which they are entitled to by law. This should be a national emergency. What we are doing to young children and families is criminal. The HSE has been allowed to breach the law for years with no repercussions. Under the Disability Act 2005, children are supposed to receive an assessment of needs within six months of application, yet we know this is not happening. Families wait for years, during which time their children miss vital windows for intervention, development and care. This is not just a delay. It is a denial of rights, of equal opportunity and of childhood in many cases. Parents are exhausted.”
“That is the important thing. This is a retrograde step. Do not get me wrong. It is hugely welcome that the Department has put in 399 new classes this year, but the demand exists for more and we need to provide those places, particularly where those commitments were made and those expectations were created.”