Micheál Carrigy (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

Deputy Toole touched on the following issue. There were a number of courses in five ETBs with speech and language assistant positions. Do the witnesses see that being rolled out further? I know this is crossing into education but there would be a huge benefit if we could have speech and language assistants in schools. I know the school inclusion model is the aspiration, with the NCSE employing therapists who would come into the schools, but there are roles that could be very beneficial to kids within schools. Some of the issues kids have are sensory issues that could be dealt with in the classroom on a daily basis rather than waiting for that one appointment you might get in six or nine months time or might never get it. It would be preferable to have people trained to a certain level who could do it on a daily basis.

I totally concur with the point made in respect of alternative therapies. My son does equine therapy with a fantastic lady and her husband in Longford. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to him. It is fantastic. He opens up completely. It is all about opening up, relaxing and being able to verbalise. We use music therapy, listening fitness training, LiFT, therapy through a psychologist and a speech and language therapist in Galway. It is brilliant and anyone who has done it knows it works. There are other supports out there. I know there was reference to pilot programmes and it was said pilots have to be done. We do not need pilots. These therapies work and everybody knows they work for everybody. Are we funding equine therapy in some parts of the country but not in others? There is a place in Liskennet and another in Charleville, County Cork. Are we going to regionalise that?

Along with three of my colleagues on the committee I went to Scotland in October 2023. We met the Scottish health Minister, Scottish Autism and departmental officials. We came back to the then Minister of State, Senator Rabbitte, and highlighted a lot of activity under way in Scotland, such as one-stop shops and the way they work it. AsIAm has now rolled out two one-stop shops which are due to open. When will we regionalise those one-stop shops throughout the country? As Mr. Gloster said, people want to talk to somebody and get answers. A lot of the problem is that when people get a diagnosis or a referral, they look things up online or whatever. We need people to be able to go into a one stop shop, speak to a person and get that wrap-around support and proper, factual information about what they can do and where you can go. That needs to happens sooner rather than later. We need to put those in place.