Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for her opening statement and briefing documents and for being here this morning. Assessments of need and the workforce relate to an issue I have raised before. A pathway has been made available for people who train in England to be occupational therapists. It is typically a quicker pathway to register and be recognised by CORU when they return to Ireland. That has not been done for speech and language therapists. I gave the example of a young woman who studied, got a master's degree and became a fully qualified speech and language therapist in Scotland. She came back to Ireland in June 2024; by March 2025 she still had not CORU recognition. She came to me at that point. Unfortunately, she has since gone to London.

I ask that the same pathway be looked at for speech and language therapists. It is a shame they come home fully qualified and willing, ready and able to work but are left sitting at home and end up leaving when we really need them.

On the assessment of need and the detailed needs it gives for a child going to school, I appreciate it relates to the Department of Education and Youth and to special education but the children with additional needs suffer. I have had several calls from parents who get an assessment of need, are told their child needs a one-on-one SNA, the SENO makes the recommendation and then they do not get the SNA. I have had several cases of that. I ask that the Minister of State engage with the Minister for education on that, please.

There are huge issues with accessing the primary medical certificate. The parameters and criteria are extremely rigid and mean people with genuine need are not able to access it. That has detrimental impacts on their independence, particularly when they live in rural areas and have extremely limited access to transport. I understand this is with the Department of Transport and it is developing the new scheme but I ask if the Minister of State has fed into that and can provide an update on it.

In our healthcare area, we met with HSE management last week and they raised an issue regarding respite for children, which is at capacity in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. They have made a business case and I want to flag that with the Minister of State. When I met the Brothers of Charity's Galway and Roscommon manager, she sat there going through the list. The Brothers of Charity has had a cut in funding of about €8 million nationally, I am told, and it is having a serious impact in Galway and Roscommon. She was going through the list to see where she could give a little bit of respite here and there. That is no way to deal with respite. Ahead of the budget, I ask that a focus be put on respite for children and adults.