It is stated on page 49 of the programme for Government that the Government will extend the remit of the National Treatment Purchase Fund in order to secure timely assessment for child and adult psychological services. Has this happened? If not, why? There is a huge issue with recruitment and retention of staff in children's disability services under the progressing disability model and in primary care itself. If we are to believe the HSE, it is working to resolve the staffing issues but this will take time. In the interim, a large cohort of children who require services now are missing out on important interventions. We are told constantly that early intervention is key. Will the Government sanction the use of the National Treatment Purchase Fund to allow children to access assessments of need, interventions and services such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and psychology in order that they can progress rather than regress?

I thank the Deputy for her question. It is something I have looked into from the perspective of providing primary care psychology for children with mental health issues. Legislation would be required to set this up. The National Treatment Purchase Fund works very well for people who need hip replacements, knee replacements and cataract operations, but it is much more complicated for primary care psychology because a child could need four, six, eight, ten or 12 appointments. The Department has been looking into this to see how feasible it is. Between September and December of last year, €4 million was allocated to reduce primary care psychology waiting lists for children waiting longer than 12 months. We managed to reduce it by 1,600 children. This year, working with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, I secured another €5.5 million for a targeted approach to try to reduce these massive waiting lists. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to speak to the Deputy about disability.