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

I thank Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan for raising this very important issue. I am well aware of her genuine concern for children with special needs in the Dublin Central area. Disability services in Dublin Central are delivered through a combination of directly provided HSE services and statutory, non-statutory and private providers. A wide range of these services are provided to children with special needs on behalf of the Dublin north city and county HSE community healthcare organisation, CHO. Children’s services are provided through multidisciplinary teams. and assessment and ongoing therapy are provided to meet their prioritised needs.

A Programme for a Partnership Government commits to improving services and increasing supports for people with disabilities, particularly for early assessment and intervention for children with special needs. However, at the core of the issue Deputy O'Sullivan raises is the fact that challenges concerning therapy services remain. The Government and I acknowledge that more therapists are needed to reduce waiting times for children and their families and to increase access to vital therapy assessments and interventions. Funding for an additional 100 therapy posts was secured as part of budget 2019. A commitment to recruiting these posts is reflected in the HSE national service plan for 2019. The 100 therapy posts provided for in budget 2019 have been allocated to each of the community healthcare organisations to recruit on a phased basis. Dublin Central is situated in community healthcare organisation 9, which has been allocated a total of 16 posts. Each CHO is finalising the allocation of these posts across its network area. The posts are being recruited on a phased basis and the target date for all posts to be in place is the end of the fourth quarter of 2019.

In particular, this initiative will have a positive impact on the waiting list for assessments of need under the Disability Act 2005. It will also drive implementation of the progressing disability services for children and young people programme through new staff appointments to reconfigured multidisciplinary geographically based teams. The progressing disability services for children and young people programme requires a reconfiguration of all current HSE and HSE-funded children's disability services into geographically based children’s disability network teams, made up of teams for early intervention and school-age children aged zero to 18. This programme aims to achieve an equitable national approach to service provision for all children based on their individual need and regardless of their disability, with service provision close to where they live or where they go to school. Some 56 children’s disability teams have been established and it is envisaged that the remaining 82 children’s disability network teams will be reconfigured from existing services in 2019.

There is a high demand for early intervention services in the CHO area 9, especially in the Dublin north city and county area. The service is working proactively with the HSE national disability office to meet this need.

The Government will continue to work with the HSE to ensure that therapy posts are recruited as quickly as possible and the remaining children's disability network teams are reconfigured this year in line with progressing disability services.

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