Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. That is fine. My office has been flooded with communications from families, caregivers, teachers and principals. There are children going into mainstream schools this September who have never had an assessment. How can schools properly prepare for those children? A special education preschool in Carlow has shared discharge numbers for 2023 with me. Of 14, seven are waiting for a data assessment. Four are to go to mainstream schools who have never met a therapist. That is absolutely shocking. Some of these children have already lost out on an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, preschool placement because they have not had their assessment to date. They should be going to a special education school or a special class within the locality but, again, without an educational assessment, they will not get a placement at this stage.

It is all about resourcing as well, which I also have significant issues with. Children who go to mainstream schools that are not suitable for their needs end up battling to get allocated special education needs supports or a place in an appropriate setting later. Their needs will not be met. They just cannot be. I have been speaking to the HSE in community healthcare organisation, CHO, area 5. The reconfiguration of children's services to children's disability network teams, CDNTs, has been faced with significant recruitment and retention challenges. The approved whole-time equivalent staffing for CDNT 1 is 22 but, unfortunately, only half that number of clinical staff are on the team. The vacant posts are in physiotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy. These are very important. As the Minister of State knows, timing and early intervention are crucial for any child. This is why I have to highlight this. We are actually in a crisis now. The current vacancies are having a significant impact on the CDNT's delivery of assessments, therapy and interventions in addition to the implementation of the process disability service model and providing training and support pathways to parents. That is another issue. The HSE has a national and international recruitment campaign for therapy staff. What is the status of the recruitment drive?

In the school settings, we are seeing the expertise of psychologists being sought more frequently. That is something parents have been speaking to me about recently. There is only one psychologist in the CDNT in Carlow. It is physically impossible for that psychologist to carry out all of these assessments. The National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, provides educational psychological support to all recognised primary and post-primary schools but I am aware that it does not maintain waiting lists and the focus is on empowering teachers to intervene effectively with pupils whose needs range from mild to severe. Schools are doing their best but, at the moment, NEPS is encouraging schools to use a continuous assessment and intervention process whereby each school takes responsibility for initial assessments, educational planning and intervention for pupils with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties. Our teachers are wildly under-resourced and this approach is highly challenging. Teachers can consult a NEPS psychologist if they need to but, in reality, there is a waiting list and they cannot access this support when they need it.

When the children started school in September last year, one principal contacted me to tell me about a child in junior infants who could not get an assessment. The school actually offered to pay for a private assessment in the hope that the family could get the supports it needed because the child needed to be looked at. Surely this cannot be happening. I will come back in again.

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