Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her interest in this area. Last Friday, I met a women in north Kerry. Her son is four years old and has a rare chromosome deficiency, Kleefstra syndrome, which causes him to have difficulties communicating. I met him too and he has problems with his gait and needs early intervention now. He is not getting services. Time and again, over the past few weeks in particular, I have met parents who can afford to pay €150 per week for the necessary interventions but, unfortunately, and the enraging part about it is, this woman and her child are awaiting ear, nose and throat, ENT, appointments, paediatric services and cardiology appointments for up to two years. He rarely sees occupational therapists and speech therapists, he needs housing adaptation and he sees Kerry Intervention and Disability Services in Listowel for approximately two days per month. He is not developing as he should and is falling behind in his potential. The frustrating thing is that rather than having a clear treatment plan prepared for him over the past two years, since he was diagnosed, his mother is waiting. She is another mother waiting and he is another child with unrealised potential. He should not have to rely on the courts and Bills such as this if the authorities really believe in equal opportunities for all. She should not have to figure this out on her own.

I also recently met a speech and language therapist who told me that in 2011, approximately, the number of speech therapists going through universities was tripled but the jobs were not there when they came out, so they all went to Canada and Australia. We are falling behind. Early intervention needs to happen now, we need more occupational therapists, OTs, and more ancillary services, and not just for people who can afford to dig into their own pockets.

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