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

I would like to speak about the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, in Carlow. The biggest issue I have had for the past few months is the lack of occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. For children who are on the waiting list, there is no one to assess them. Children who should be going into classrooms in September do not have school places because they have not been assessed. They and their parents do not know where they are going to go to school. There are major issues in this regard. It is the same with ASD classes. I have been approached by many schools that are trying to get these classes. There are serious issues within the Department. There are waiting lists. I beg the Taoiseach - this is going to become a crisis if we do not get more speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. We need to build more ASD classrooms as a matter of urgency.

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