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

The lack of access to basic services for children with a disability is shameful and inexcusable. I am particularly struck by a reference to the employment vacancy rate across the children's disability network teams, which now stands at more than 28%, as well as the fact there are more than 17,000 children waiting for initial contact with a children's disability network team and 2,500 children whose assessments of need are already overdue. HSE services that deliver high levels of complex care to children and young adults with a disability in Laois-Offaly are experiencing a significant staff vacancy crisis. In a reply I received from the HSE, it was pointed out that the children's disability network team at the Riverside Centre in Tullamore has four full-time vacancies, while the children's disability network team serving Edenderry and Mountmellick has seven full-time staff vacancies. The highest level, however, was found to be in the Spraoi Centre on St. Fintan's campus in Portlaoise.

Many parents with children who require rapid disability interventions are in effect witnessing a collapse in services. In Laois-Offaly, this is on top of a crisis we have in respect of access to speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. It is simply appalling. We need urgent action in Laois-Offaly, which is one of the worst-affected regions in the State. The HSE has advised that there is a prioritisation and caseload management system in place that includes assessment and intervention pathways but my experience, and certainly the experience of the families I hear from in my constituency offices every day, is that this is not translating into practice. It shows that this system is not working. We need a fit-for-purpose system. That is why it is vital that we have a new primary care centre in Birr and that it becomes operational with the various therapies to ensure community access for all people with a disability, particularly children, where it is vital they are assessed in time and prevention measures put in place.

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