Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath calls early intervention waiting lists' appalling discrimination.'

Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath has called waiting lists for early intervention services' appalling' at Leaders Questions in the Dáil today.

He said families are waiting for assessments and services only to be told there were no speech and language therapists available, while practitioners say they cannot get work.

He said his constituents have gone from waiting 13 to 14 months before the pandemic to three years after.

"Something is rotten in here; it's discrimination, appalling discrimination. Some families have had to go to court to get this rectified, and it needs to be dealt with.

It's just unacceptable to have children with special education needs to fall behind and regress. They need to be respected as every other child in the system," said Mr McGrath.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he agreed the wait for assessments was too long but that he believed the situation had improved in recent months.

He said he would ask the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and at the Department of Health Anne Rabbitte to answer the deputy directly.

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