Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. To be honest I am disappointed. The Minister of State said that I said that only extreme urgent cases would be dealt with. He is probably right there, but the letter basically said that the waiting list for psychological intervention is likely to be extensive and it urged parents to seek support from other local agencies. Parents read that to mean that they were to find support themselves and get whatever other resources or funding they could find out about. Parents in Limerick are extremely concerned about this development. The services are critical for some children. When I raised this issue back in February the waiting list for school age services was huge. At that stage the number of children on waiting lists for school age assessment and intervention stood at 632. Some 577 children were on the school age waiting list for intervention alone, with 245 of these waiting for more than eight months for intervention. These are truly shocking figures.

The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 states that every child with special needs is entitled to an education and the notion of inclusion is promoted in that Act. Inclusion, however, is not a reality on the ground as the supports are simply not there to allow for it. The solution is very straightforward. Limerick early intervention services and school age teams need more staff, more funding and more resources immediately. I urge the Minister of State to look into the case I have highlighted, to make contact with the HSE and to ensure the service is provided with what it needs to deliver its services for children in Limerick. I take this opportunity to commend the staff in the Limerick early intervention services and school age teams for working so hard for so many children with the few resources it has. The solution is straightforward and the benefits for these children and their families will be massive.

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