Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be honest, I would like to co-operate with Deputy Dillon on the issue he has raised, such as the application of the 2007 circular in the context of the pandemic. I will be meeting the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, and I will raise those issues with her. It is no different from early years education or anything else like that. The pandemic has held up education and access for children who needed extra time in classrooms. “Yes” is the answer on that issue.

As regards funding for speech and language therapists, I am working with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to see how we can aid on the issue of speech and language therapy assessments, but also the continuing delivery of speech and language therapy services. I am currently working on an intervention programme and I hope that the next time I appear before the committee we will be further into the roll-out in the context of how we can work on delivering speech and language therapy.

Communication is a fundamental issue. I believe in children being able to communicate and being given the tools to do so. One of the primary ways of doing that is through access to speech and language therapists. I refer to the deaf community in this context with regard to sign language and training up more therapists. These issues are all on my radar as priorities in the coming weeks and months to actually find a solution to get more therapeutic interventions with speech and language.