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

I thank the Deputy for the brilliant question. In a care setting that is predominantly female, it is an issue to think we do not fund, cover or back maternity leave. I do not find it acceptable. We would not do it in teaching and I do not know why we would not do it in disability and, most importantly, in the therapeutic delivery of care where early intervention is key. It is something I have taken up with the HSE. Currently, it is a conversation. I have funded and started that. Three of my children's disability network team leads are or will be on maternity leave this year. I am funding those posts. I am working very closely with the HSE to ensure we can build in the capacity so as to have that capacity budget to be able to cover maternity leave. That is across all different grades. If a senior speech and language therapist is out on maternity leave for 12 months and a child does not see a speech and language therapist in that time, that is not a delivery of service. Sometimes that is not communicated to the family and they do not know why. We need to ensure we have that continuation. I am looking at having relief maternity panels with the skills available to support the teams who are able to deliver the service of the relevant grades.