Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Government is committed to the provision and development of services for children with a disability, including early intervention services, within available resources. While these services are in the process of being reconfigured under the Health Service Executive's national programme on progressing disability services for children and young people from birth to 18 years, it is important to note that all HSE areas have significant early intervention services in place for children with disabilities, from birth to aged 18. These are provided directly by the HSE or by voluntary service providers funded by the HSE.

The aim of the programme on progressing disability services for children and young people is to achieve a national, unified approach to delivering disability health services in order that there is a clear pathway to services for all children - it is not in place at present - regardless of where they live, the school they go to or the nature of their disability. An additional €4 million has been specifically allocated in 2014 to drive implementation of the programme. This equates to approximately 80 therapy posts.

There are almost 60 geographically based multidisciplinary teams established as part of the reconfigured service model under this programme. It is hoped that a further 30 teams will be reconfigured this year, bringing the overall total to approximately 90 teams by the end of 2014. These figures reflect all children's disability teams that provide early intervention services to children from birth to aged 18. The transition to this new model is being implemented on a phased basis and, what is important, it includes consultation and engagement with stakeholders such as service users and their families.

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