I raise the issue of autism assessments. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in putting autism assessments front and centre, putting a focus on them and trying to reduce waiting times for children. We have a lot more to do. Will the Minister of State put in place measures or reforms to ensure these autism assessments happen more quickly? I am speaking on behalf of a constituent, Laura, whose son Harry was referred for an autism assessment back in May. He is still on a waiting list for it and will have to wait much longer before it happens. I plead with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the Government to ensure that the likes of Harry do not have to wait any longer and are dealt with and assessed in order that they can get the important supports they need.

It is important to say that in every budget in recent years we have secured funding for assessments of need. However, in July this year we changed the approach and secured additional funding which was approved by the Cabinet to enable the provision of private capacity for the delivery of assessments of need for our longest waiters. To date this year, we have increased the number of assessments by 23% on this time last year. It is important to note that more than 1,400 assessments of need have been delivered through private capacity since last July, which shows that the funding secured by the Cabinet has been well used.