33. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on disability will next meet. [43624/26]

Sentiment score: 0.00

I want to raise the waiting times for therapies for children’s disability network teams. A couple of weeks ago, I raised the unacceptable waiting time for children in Lucan for speech and language therapy. The average is a two-year wait. I thought that was bad until I received a response yesterday about a four-year-old boy from Clondalkin who will be waiting five years before he gets speech and language therapy. Every expert will say that early intervention is key. One of the worst jobs for TDs across this House is when you have to send a response back to a parent. It is really upsetting as a TD but that pales into insignificance compared to what the parent in receipt of that letter experiences when they receive news that their four-year-old child will not get an appointment for speech and language therapy until they are nine years old. What will the Government do about this?

Sentiment score: -0.23