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

I thank the Deputy for giving me the chance to answer this question. He is right. Therapy assistants work with, and report to, therapy managers and children’s disability network managers, and work under the supervision and direction of nominated supervisors, as appropriate to the healthcare area and role. While a FETAC level 5 qualification or an equivalent qualification from another jurisdiction is desirable, some staff are employed in therapy assistant roles and are undertaking further training to develop therapy assistant skills and a FETAC level 5 qualification. As part of the ongoing development of the team, all staff, including healthcare and therapy assistants, should participate in ongoing training and development. Within HSE services, there are many ways that staff benefit from education and training from on-the-job learning and HSE courses.

On the question asked, there are opportunities for care assistants and therapy assistants to make up the complement of the teams within the disability network teams. In fact, what we want to do within our disability network teams is create a pathway for employment and career progression and training people on-the-job, coming in at a base level. It does not always have to be a senior clinician post and there are various opportunities along the way, and the therapy assistant post is one of those under consideration.

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