First, I acknowledge that there are very significant challenges facing families with children who have disabilities, particularly with regard to access to therapies. There has to be a balanced perspective regarding overall disability provision. I would argue that over the last three years, there has been very significant progress, and in the years before that, on special education, which the Deputy did not refer to her in her commentary. While that is always challenging, I think it has been a key priority and delivery there has been more effective in the health service in terms of therapies and in the CDNTs.

In budget 2024, we are now looking at about €2.7 billion, which has been allocated to provide additional teaching and care supports for children with special education needs. That is a 5% increase on last year's funding. There will be an additional 744 special education teachers and over 1,200 additional special needs assistant, SNA posts. We now have over 20,000 special education teachers supporting students across the school system, and 21,584 in total. I recall that when I was Minister for Education and Science and I initiated the SNA scheme, we had none. We have to look at things and say that we have a lot more to do but over the decades, a lot happened in education and in the integration of disabilities into education.

In the recent budget, we increased the domiciliary care allowance in terms of once-off funding, and we did the same last year, so we have increased funding for various disability payments on the social protection side. On the health side, and disability has now moved over to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, there is significant funding to assist the expansion of services.

The one area that has proved very challenging and difficult is access to therapies. A model was adopted by the HSE over a decade ago entitled the Progressing Disability Services for Children & Young People, which has not yielded the results that we require. In some areas it has but not in respect of recruitment and retention of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, OTs, and speech and language therapists to that service. We have had many engagements with the HSE and we are continuing. I know that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is continuing that engagement with the HSE with regard to recruitment and retention of therapists. Other parts of the health service have been far more effective in recruiting therapists than the paediatric side of the system or that which concerns children with special needs.

That is an issue. There is renewed focus on how we recruit and retain therapists in order that children can have ready access to them.

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