HSE representatives attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters in May to discuss the progressing disability services model. They stated that all 91 children's disabilities network teams were to be established by the end of quarter 2, that is, the end of June. We are now nearing the end of quarter 3 and they are not all established. How many of them have been established and what is the proposed date for getting the remainder up and running? In some of the teams that are up and running, there is an insufficient number of staff, low morale, with staff finding it difficult to cope, a constant turnover of staff and many children not receiving the therapies they require. Some children are being told they will have to wait two to three years for various therapies. At the committee meeting, we were also told this model would ensure that effective clinical teams would work in partnership with families, but many children are not receiving the early interventions they require and that are vital to their progression. Will the Minister provide an update on children's disabilities network teams?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is important to many families. Of the 91 progressing disability services teams, 83 are fully reconfigured and I am advised that the remaining teams will be reconfigured by the end of November. As such, work is at an advanced stage.

I wish to point out the considerable work the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has done and continues to do. She has made dramatic progress on waiting lists for assessments of need. Now, similar progress needs to be made on waiting lists for actual therapy intervention services, and she is deeply committed to doing that. In the context of the budget, I will work with her to make further progress in that regard.