Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not finished yet. There are a few more coming down the line as well.

The Government recognises that waiting times for speech and language therapy have posed significant difficulties for families and their children.

In 2016, €4 million was provided under the HSE’s national service plan to focus specifically on speech and language therapy waiting lists in primary and social care for children up to 18 years of age. This investment represents a long-term increase in speech and language capacity that will be maintained into 2017.

The HSE has also introduced a number of initiatives specifically in the area of speech and language therapy services that are aimed at improving access to these services. I refer to therapists increasing clinic-based work and, whenever possible, providing family-centred interventions in a group.

The additional €4 million in 2016 is enabling the HSE to fill 83 new full-time and recurring posts in primary care to address waiting lists, prioritising the longest-waiting children. To ensure that best use is made of the available funding while recruitment is under way, the HSE is implementing interim measures in 2016 that include temporary appointments and use of agency staff.

The HSE has established a national therapy service review group to address therapy waiting lists, including the speech and language therapies raised by the Deputy. The group will agree a revised national model of speech and language therapy provision that will be standardised across all community health care organisations as regards referral criteria, assessment and treatment arrangements, models of care and standardisation of a prioritisation system for speech and language therapy. It is anticipated that the group will have completed its work by the end of March 2017.

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