Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the question I have does not refer specifically to Castleblaney, I hope the answer is along the right lines.

The reply refers to the demonstration project that was recently announced to provide an in-school and preschool therapy service, to be introduced for the 2018-19 school year. The project will be managed and co-ordinated by the National Council for Special Education. The model has been developed by the Departments of Education and Skills, Children and Youth Affairs, and Health, and the Health Service Executive, and is part of the Government's overall aim to help every child to fulfil his or her full potential. A total of 75 schools, including a representative sample of primary, post-primary and special schools, will take part, and 75 preschools will also participate. The project is taking place in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7 region of south-west Dublin, Kildare and west Wicklow. As part of the programme, 19 speech and language therapists and 12 occupational therapists will be recruited by the HSE to work with the 150 schools and preschools.

The purpose of the project is to test a model of tailored therapeutic supports that allow for early intervention in terms of providing speech and language and occupational therapy within educational settings. This innovative pilot will complement existing HSE-funded provision of essential therapy services. The pilot is designed to test the provision of speech and language and occupational therapies in schools settings. It does not, therefore, include applied behaviour analysis, ABA. The Special Education Support Service, which is now part of the NCSE support service, provides training for teachers and schools in a range of programmes, including ABA.

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