For autistic kids, early intervention is key. That is what all the experts say. The Disability Act places a legal obligation upon the State to determine within three months whether assessment is appropriate and then to assess within a further three months. I have here a letter sent last week by the HSE to the parents of a child living in Cork city who is just under two years of age. The letter confirms receipt of a referral for the child requesting an autism diagnostic assessment. It then goes on to say that the waiting time for autism assessment is approximately 24 to 30 months. Cara Dermody wants the Taoiseach to give a commitment that the State will be in a position to meet its legal obligations in full within a maximum of 12 months. Is the Taoiseach prepared to make such a commitment? If not, how does he expect the parent of any autistic child anywhere in this State to even consider voting for a Government party at the next election?

I really think this about much more than votes. This is about trying to reform our disability services. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I are working intensively on this matter. We had a meeting on it as recently as last Thursday. Following a Cabinet committee meeting, we allocated significant additional funding of €6.89 million to provide for an assessment of need waiting list initiative. This will provide a further 2,500 private assessments to be delivered within the next six months, delivering on a commitment the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, made in this House based on the work of Cara Dermody, who was here on that occasion. To be very honest with Deputy Barry and with the parents of Ireland, a key issue here is recruitment. We ran a recruitment campaign and 145 successful candidates have now received job offers to work in this area, 53 of whom are now in the final stages of recruitment. We will run another recruitment campaign very shortly.