Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Minister of State. I do not doubt her bona fides in this regard. I know she has been trying her best to resolve this issue in recent years.

Approximately two and a half years ago in Limerick, we met all the principals of Cork special schools. I note that the Minister of State has been working away in the background trying to resolve this issue, but she is obviously acutely aware of the problem. I have no doubt that hiring therapists and people with specialties has been difficult right across the HSE and not just for special schools. Yet, we are being faced with the prospect of having one in three - even one in two in some cases - posts not being filled. Nobody here is going to call for the privatisation of any of these therapies but, unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that the HSE is finding it very difficult to appoint these people to posts and hence the call for these to be outsourced, for want of a better word, to private providers in the interim. I stress that this would not be my preferred route, but it is being considered as an interim measure.

The Minister of State mentioned 14 schools. In particular, St. Killian's Special School in Mayfield is ready to go and desperately wants a green light to ensure that the children concerned can get the services that are required.

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