More than 150 children in Waterford are still waiting for an assessment of need and some have been left waiting for over two years. The Minister does not need me to tell her that is illegal. The law is explicit - children must receive an assessment within six months. This Government is routinely breaking the law and is breaking the law when it comes to children's rights. Across the State, 18,097 children are overdue an assessment. Cara Darmody, who is just 15-years-old, is undertaking her second 50-hour sleepout on Kildare Street to shame Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil into action because that is what it takes. The Government must do all it can to expedite the recruitment of clinicians to bring this failure to an end. Tá os cionn 150 páiste i bPort Láirge fós gan mheasúnú riachtanais agus tá 18,000 páiste eile ar fud na tíre thar an teorainn chuí. Tá teaghlaigh ag streachailt gan tacaíocht. Ní leor gealltanais bhuiséid gan fhoireann cheart a bheith i láthair. Tá cearta leanaí á sárú agus tá gníomh práinneach ag teastáil chun an córas a chur ina cheart. The pattern here is unmistakable as well. Parents are expected to absorb costs, chase private services, or simply wait indefinitely. Budget 2026 set aside €20 million, again thanks to Cara Darmody and her efforts to shame the Government into action, but without recruiting the therapists and without taking any meaningful action to fill that gap the figures will not translate into shorting waiting times for any family. The Government has not addressed the workforce gap and children are paying the price. The failure in this aspect of children's services extends across other children's services. Young people are living through painful years as they wait for scoliosis procedures. Special school and autism class places remain insufficient, despite repeated warnings. CAMHS continues to struggle. Child homelessness is rising. Tusla is in free fall. Child poverty targets have been missed year-on-year and Fianna Fáil's solution to that is to change the targets. The Government must stop failing children. It must stop failing families. Listen to Cara Darmody. Do the right thing. Stop failing children and stop breaking the law.

Sentiment score: -0.17