Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think this is a new story for Deputies in this House. They are aware of the serious problem we have with parents who get a diagnosis, wait a long period for an assessment of needs, AON, wait further for a statement of service and for the appointment of key workers, and then face a substantial wait for any therapeutic care.

A constituent who is one example among many was diagnosed at the age of four in 2019. A service statement was received four months later. A key worker was appointed over two years later and there is still no clear line of sight on when the needed therapeutic service, psychology, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy will be provided. In my area in north Dublin, over 3,000 children are in therapy and another 3,000 are waiting for it. The prospect for those in therapy of moving quickly through the system is not great.

I call for a root-and-branch review by the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the HSE of whether the system in place is broken. I was encouraged by the establishment of a pilot in the west of Dublin, where 75 schools and 75 preschools were to be supported by, as I recall, 19 therapists with different skills. This was to be the new approach. Although the pilot has reported positive support and success, the HSE withdrew the speech and language therapist and occupational therapist deployed for Covid work and the scheme has run into difficulties since. It has not taken on the expansion.

In a recent court case, the approach taken to try to move children forward has been deemed not to meet the needs of the legislation. We need to look at everything, including the legislation, to see if we can do better for these children. If we are having assessments of needs, the conduct of which absorbs many therapeutic resources, but then have a wait of three years before services are provided, one would question the value of the resources that go into such assessments. Three years on, the situation may be quite different. One wonders whether the education approach could deploy more effectively.

Some people will argue, rightly, that some children need one-to-one care that cannot be provided in a school context, but the HSE has now moved to provide group care support to parents. Why not provide supports to SNAs and resource teachers? There are 19,000 SNAs and, if I am not wrong, 13,000 resource teachers. That is a vast resource compared to, in my area, 230 therapists, where the vacancy rate is almost one third. We have a resource supporting children with special needs. We need a deep reassessment of how we deploy the resource, which includes therapists, SNAs and resource teachers. Can we find a better way to support children, rather than having these long waits? At seven years of age a child is struggling and one wonders if it has been left too late, even if they get that intervention. I call for Ministers to get together, form a working group and have a serious review of this approach.

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