Figures I obtained very recently on early intervention, which is committed to in the programme for Government, show that 7,176 children in this State are waiting for over a year for initial therapy or assessment. I am sure the Minister can agree this figure is both shocking and unacceptable. In my constituency, there are 921 children in north Tipperary waiting for early intervention while in Offaly the waiting period for so-called intervention is 17 months. That is absolutely scandalous. In addition, the problem in Offaly has been made worse by the fact that the clinical psychologist post is vacant since August. Can the Minister advise when this post will be filled? When will the early intervention teams be put in place, as envisaged in A Vision for Change?

I am not in a position to update the Deputy on the status of an individual post. I can say, however, that the Government, including the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, is very committed to trying to recruit more speech and language therapists. I do not want the development of our youngest children to be affected by an inability to gain access to speech and language therapy, in particular. I acknowledge this happens more than it should. I am very much aware of the issue, particularly within my constituency. The Government has plans and has the funding in place to try to recruit further speech and language therapists to deal with an issue which I do not want to see develop.