I am reluctant to come into the House and raise the following issue again but unfortunately the numbers are going in the wrong direction. In the children's disability network team in my area of community healthcare organisation 9, the numbers are going in the wrong direction by 80, from 2,795 in June of this year to 2,873 as of the end of September. This means we have thousands of children waiting for assessment, never mind therapeutic support, which is an essential part of a child's capacity to access the education system.

I wish to make it very clear that I acknowledge the tenacity with which and the manner in which the Minister of State is carrying out her duties in this area but, unfortunately, the numbers are going in the wrong direction and children are suffering as a result. It is incumbent on me to ask at this point for a very serious all-of-Government approach to resolving this matter.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I acknowledge that the numbers in his area are going in the wrong direction. This is true just in his area but in many areas and that is why when we launched the PDS roadmap approximately two weeks ago, one of the pieces within is the tender document for procuring additional supports outside of the HSE to ensure assessments of need are carried out in a timely fashion. The procurement document will be finished tomorrow and will be with me by Monday. At that stage, we will be able to intervene to ensure that assessments of need start to happen more quickly.