Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The waiting times for children who have disabilities and need access to the likes of speech and language therapy and occupational therapy are totally unacceptable. It is also horrendous that parents must fight tooth and nail for these basic and essential services. We have a very serious problem in the State.

In my constituency of Laois-Offaly, those therapies are virtually non-existent. I am aware of the case of a seven-year-old child who has never received a session of speech therapy. It is absolutely shocking, and the child in question has profound disabilities. I am asking for something to be done fast and for urgency to be applied to this unacceptable crisis, particularly in Laois-Offaly. I ask for the recruitment of speech and language therapists and occupational therapists to be given top priority because this has gone on for years. I remember being here as a newly elected Deputy in 2016 raising these same matters.

My offices across Laois and Offaly are inundated with calls from desperate, upset and frustrated parents who seem to encounter barrier after barrier when it comes to accessing speech and occupational therapy or even the assessment of need. There is a terrible number of barriers that must be overcome and these parents and children need assistance. They will not be able to reach their educational potential if they are not given that vital, basic and necessary support when they are young children in the system, either through early intervention or the school-age teams. This must happen urgently.

All of this represents an appalling indictment of the State's capacity to understand what its legal obligations were and are with respect to the assessment of needs process. The High Court judgment referred to in the motion has staggering implications and we can consider how the process adopted by the Health Service Executive caused its assessment officers to err in law. The HSE does not intend to appeal the High Court case and is in breach of its obligations to vindicate the rights of children with disabilities.

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