Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has said that children with special needs in Cavan and Monaghan are being denied access to essential services because of a lack of capacity in the HSE.
Matt Carthy said:
“I recently made representations to Minister for Health Simon Harris, on behalf of young boy from Carrickmacross who has been waiting on an Assessment of Need (AON) since of August of last year.
“The Minister referred me to a response from the HSE which outlined that there is only one clinical psychologist to cover the counties of Cavan and Monaghan and so capacity is limited.
“The letter from the HSE also claims that their efforts to recruit for an additional post has been unsuccessful and assessment and intervention for children with autism is limited.
“It is very clear that due to this lack of capacity in the HSE, children with special needs in Cavan and Monaghan are being denied access to essential services.
“This is an outrageous and unacceptable situation and exposes as nonsense Government claims to be prioritising investment in assessment and intervention in health services for children with disabilities.
“Sinn Féin has submitted further questions to the Minister for Health on this issue and will be applying maximum political pressure to have this appalling situation resolved.”
