Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Clarke for raising this valuable issue and giving me the opportunity to speak on it.

Several weeks ago, I spoke about Offaly with Deputy Nolan. She raised the matter that evening. Deputy Clarke talks about the constituency of Longford-Westmeath. I talk about the community healthcare organisation area that covers Longford, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Louth and Meath. That is the size and magnitude of the area. I am putting it in context.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I understand the Deputy is referring to both occupational therapy services as well as speech and language therapy. It is not in my note but I assume Deputy Clarke is also referring to the Mullingar Resource Centre, MRC. Is that what she is talking about? I am abreast and across that in recent weeks.

I am glad to say that in the context of the Government's resilience and recovery framework, the provision of disability services is deemed essential. That only happened last September when they were planning to do it. Prior to that, disability services were not deemed an essential service, especially the first time we were locked down last March, unfortunately.

It goes without saying that all disability services must follow the public health guidelines in the area to ensure service users and staff are protected as much as possible. It is important to note that most children's disability services maintained a level of service and support for children and their families throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. This was based on prioritised need, available staff, family consent and was in line with the HSE guidelines. These services and supports were provided by way of phone or telehealth as a first option, advancing to direct face-to-face contact where telephone or online supports did not meet the child's needs.

Deputy Clarke has outlined some clear comprehensive examples where people could not do face-to-face interaction, including the case of a baby who was several weeks old. I am not here to defend the HSE and I will not defend the HSE, but I cannot quantify the wording in my script as a level of service. Clearly, we cannot quantify what Deputy Clarke was speaking about as any level of service.

To address the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the HSE has redeployed staff across the five different counties to testing and contact tracing throughout the pandemic.

I have been raising this issue consistently with Paul Reid since 5 October. I have asked repeatedly for these therapists to be returned to their substantive work. This work is ongoing, but the HSE has committed to returning all these staff as its recruitment of community swabbers continues.

In the case of the Longford-Westmeath region specifically, the most important thing is that the local HSE services have advised me that the Springfield Centre in Westmeath is due to reopen next Monday and therapy services will resume on that date. I apologise that cinemas will be open before it, but at least we will have it opened. It has taken us until 8 December to get to this stage, but at least we have it opened and I thank Deputy Clarke for raising this question. I hope I am not getting a response because a Topical Issue matter was tabled regarding this issue. I would hate to think that we are reactionary to children's needs, as opposed to, as Deputy Clarke clearly stated earlier, being proactive and planning ahead. I will address the MRC in the next part of my answer.

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