John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Page 92 of the programme for Government states that a new model of in-school speech and language therapy will be established. In that regard I refer specifically to a six year old girl in my constituency who is attending Stewarts Care Limited. She intends to progress to primary school in September and a referral has gone from Stewarts to the HSE. Unfortunately the response states:

We have received the response. Currently the team has reached full capacity with 750 children already in service. The application will be held on file and reviewed as soon as capacity within the team is available. Given the current circumstances, it is difficult to estimate when she will have access to speech and language therapy. However, given the current demand for the service and resources available, it is likely to be approximately 24 months.

A girl of six years of age cannot wait for two years.

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