Parents of children with special needs simply face too many barriers and obstacles to accessing services, including school placements, respite, proper and timely assessments, and basic equipment and aids to help their children get through the daily tasks of life.

For example, the number of children who are waiting for appropriate occupational therapy assessment is extraordinary. Nationally, 4,640 children have been waiting for more than a year for their first OT assessment despite the Disability Act 2005 stipulating a statutory requirement of three months. In counties Cork and Kerry, which are the worst, well over 1,700 have been waiting for longer than that period for occupational therapy assessment. Up to 60 children in one school are on a waiting list with no special school placement available to them. Some 14,000 are waiting for speech and language assessment. There is no certainty and parents are facing terrible anxiety.

As the Taoiseach knows, the therapy services are critical. The assessment and the subsequent access to services are critical to children. Those awaiting OT assessment include children with conditions such as cerebral palsy, dyspraxia and spina bifida. The lack of prioritisation in this area is a shocking indictment of what is going on.

Up to 30 parents have been waiting for two years to get a single weekend of respite. Due to cuts to its funding, the disability organisation had to apply a chronological dividing line. That was only resolved last week after we had to bring the parents' representatives to Dublin to meet the Minister of State with responsibility for those with special needs, Deputy Finian McGrath. Those parents of children with severe and profound autism have been without respite for two to three years. It should not take that long and the dynamic of a meeting to kick the system into action to provide for them.

Last week I met parents of a young child with muscular dystrophy. There is an extraordinary rationing and medieval bureaucratic system around applications for aids and appliances. I am talking about wheelchairs, specialist footwear for a child with muscular dystrophy and particular body suits that prevent scoliosis or other complications arising. I put it to the Taoiseach that a fundamental and comprehensive look needs to be taken at timely access for such services for children. The mindset and the attitude has to change and the barriers have to be taken down. Parents of children with special needs are still saying that they are facing too many barriers as well as huge stress and anxiety.

I agree this is a matter that has been examined over the years. The Government has adopted the findings of Eamon Stack's report in respect of access to services in schools for children with intellectual challenges which will eliminate many of the problems that have been around for a long time. The HSE is currently engaged in a reconfiguration of the existing therapy resources which are available to teams and spread geographically for children from birth to 18 years. As the Deputy is aware, the objective of that model of assessment is to provide a single and clear referral pathway for all children, irrespective of their disability, where they live or the school they attend, in order to streamline this. Evidence from the areas will show that implementation of the programme will have a positive impact. It has taken quite a while to get to this point.

Deputy Martin mentioned respite. The HSE and the agencies it funds provide respite care to children and adults with disabilities. It is clear there are challenges. Respite can occur in a variety of settings for any length of time depending on the needs of the family and the resources that are available. It is not always centre-based. It can be provided in a number of ways, including out of home, in home, home to home, home support and family support. As part of the continuum of services for families, respite helps prevent out-of-home placements, preserves the family unit and supports family stability. While the situation outlined by the Deputy is not as satisfactory as one would wish, the HSE is aware of the importance of the provision of respite to families of both children and adults with disabilities and the impact of the absence of respite service provision on other services.

It does not necessarily cease once a person reaches the age of 18 but this will depend on the availability of resources. As a result of the number of respite beds being used for long-term residential placements, the number of people with disabilities in receipt of residential respite services and the corresponding number of respite nights are down against previous activity. This reflects new models of respite care that are now being delivered to home respite and extended day care, etc.

The Deputy raises an important consideration, particularly for the families and the young people involved. However, it depends on the availability of trained staff and resources which is why the structure has changed. It is hoped that over time it will be far more streamlined and deliver a more effective service.

The bottom line is that it simply is not working. I refer to the case of a young child of two and a half years who needs an assessment application. The child attended in June 2016 and the family were told it would be dealt with on 23 September. They were then told in November by an assessment officer that there was a five month delay and that she was processing number 482. This child was number 981. Eventually, the family got a private assessment only to be told that an early intervention ASD unit cannot be made available because there must be a HSE assessment. These are the kind of cases that Deputies are picking up throughout the country. There are long waits for assessment and an inability to access services.

Marian House is the autism centre for assessment in Cork South Lee. The last paragraph of a letter that admittedly was sent last year reads:

Currently in Marian House there are only 8 whole time equivalent post to 770 children. This scarce resource is divided into three teams to support children from time of diagnosis... The situation is out of ... control ... we are sorry we are unable to offer a comprehensive service which you and your child deserve and require.

A similar story applies in other areas. In one area, 800 children are waiting for an autism assessment. I could go on. The system is not working. There is no point in talking about models when urgent intervention is required. It should not have to be deputation after deputation going to Ministers to get these issues resolved. The issues must be dealt with comprehensively.

The Deputy will be aware of the very close collaboration between the health and education sectors on children's disabilities in general. This is facilitated by the cross-sectoral team on the implementation of the Disability Act comprised of representatives of the Departments of Health, Education and Skills and Children and Youth Affairs, the Health Service Executive, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, which has been established to progress specific cases.

The full implementation of the progressing disability services programme is expected before the end of 2017. A total of €8 million in additional funding was invested in 2014-15 to fund 200 additional posts to deal with the backlog to which the Deputy referred. A further €4 million in additional funding was provided for 75 therapy posts in 2016. It is expected that the reconfiguration of these services will have a significant impact.

In 2013, there were 260 prioritised front-line primary care posts, including 52 occupational therapists and 52 speech and language therapists. The aim was to address the waiting list to which the Deputy referred. In 2016, €4 million was provided under the HSE's national service plan to focus specifically on speech and language therapy waiting lists in primary and social care for children aged up to 18 years. This represents a long-term investment in speech and language capacity which will be maintained through this year and in the years ahead.