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

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. The HSE and I acknowledge that waiting times to access the school age team for children with disabilities in CHO 7 which covers Dublin south, Kildare west and Wicklow are unacceptably long. It is due to high demand for services and challenges in staff recruitment and retention in the area. The Dublin south, Kildare west and Wicklow community healthcare organisation area has a growing population, with an increase in the number of children with a disability. The population of the area has increased by 33,175, or approximately 5%, since the 2011 census. In addition to the increase in population, a high proportion of children presenting to disability teams have a diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. A typical ASD diagnosis can take more than 30 hours to complete.

While the CHO 7 school age team is operating without a dedicated team manager, recruitment to fill the post is under way via a national recruitment process. It is an essential appointment in managing resources and waiting lists within the team. The HSE is engaged in a reconfiguration of existing therapy resources to provide geographically-based teams for children from birth to 18 years. The intention is to roll out an integrated care model which will allow children, whatever the nature of their disability, to be seen as close to home and school as possible. The team manager appointment is key to facilitating the reconfiguration. Funding for an additional 100 therapy posts was secured for children's disability services as part of budget 2019, in which I was glad to be involved. Some of the posts will be allocated to CHO 7. The additional posts, with the reconfiguration of services and other innovative approaches, will have a significant positive impact on waiting times for assessment and therapy service delivery over the course of the next year.

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