Ms Fiona Walsh:

The Deputy asked about access to support provision. Covid-19 has obviously had a big impact on that. Our daughter is in a special needs school in Cork. We have seen a physiotherapist publicly twice in a year and a half. On both occasions, that was just to assess her, make sure her back was still in alignment and determine whether she needed shoes or specialised equipment. We saw an occupational therapist. When our daughter joined the school, I highlighted that she did not have correct seating, sent seven or eight emails forward and backwards and was told that they would get to her at some stage. That stage came a day after she fell out of the seating she had been given, which had been taken out of a storeroom in the school and was not appropriate for her to use. The first time we saw an occupational therapist was after an incident. An occupational therapist has visited her once this year - also in the school. We have not had any public speech and language therapy for a year and a half since we came to Cork.

In contrast, when she was in an early intervention preschool in Galway, there was a physiotherapist, speech and language therapist and occupational therapist in the grounds of the school. They would be there a couple of days a week. We had plans where we worked with her. In contrast to here, she was doing five days a week there. I am not sure how many hours it was per day.