The waiting time for occupational therapy, OT, services in Kildare and west Wicklow is now 169 weeks, or 3.25 years. I have received replies to a number of parliamentary questions related to constituents who have to wait that long to see an occupational therapist. They are waiting for motorised scooters, chairs and simple rails to help their quality of life. Some of these people cannot wait three and a half years; they are in their golden years. I ask the Minister to talk to the Minister for Health and the HSE to see what we can do for OT services. This is a quality-of-life issue. These people need assistance. They cannot wait three and a half years. I ask the Minister to ask the Minister for Health to look at this urgently for those people who need it most.

I am happy to raise this matter directly. There are a number of things we need to do in response. We need to ensure we have enough qualified people and ensure we have enough courses and training opportunities working with our universities. That is happening already through the Department of the Minister, Deputy Lawless, working with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. We also need to consider where legislative changes are required, in particular when it comes to assessments where more OT time is being spent on assessments as opposed to providing services, not just for children but for people more broadly. Those changes need to come into effect soon and I know the Minister is working on that. We also need to make sure we have the funding to be able to support the hiring of new staff to provide these services more broadly. I will raise the matter directly.