I raise the issue of the backlog of assessments of need. I have asked about the use of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, to purchase assessments and interventions before on a number of occasions but was informed that it was not possible and it would require legislation. Even a reply to a parliamentary question this week stated that the NTPF can only be used to purchase treatment in a hospital setting. The use of the fund for assessment in the North was offered as an option to a parent of an autistic child who requires an urgent assessment. When the parent inquired further about using the fund, he was informed by a regional manager in the HSE that the HSE is using this scheme since last December and has sent children to Belfast and even as far away as Poland for autism assessments. I fully support this as a temporary measure to ensure that children who require assessment and intervention get those services now because parents should not have to pay privately for those when they are entitled to them in the public system. However, I am asking for clarification because I am being told one thing in the response to a parliamentary question from the Minister and another thing by someone from the HSE. Is the NTPF an option?

I will talk to the Minister about that. It is open to the NTPF to do outpatient treatment, for example, or appointments with consultants. Predominantly, it has been used for inpatient acute treatment. That has been the predominant application of the NTPF but the Minister has indicated in the past that it can be used for disabilities as well and to deal with the significant outpatient list as opposed to the inpatient list. I will alert the Minister to the point that the Deputy raised.