Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

At the outset, I appreciate the work Cara Darmody has been doing and her campaigning work with her father, Mark. She has been campaigning for quite some time. She initially began to do so in terms of advocacy for her family and now does so nationally in respect of disability rights more generally.

When I was appointed Taoiseach earlier in the year, I committed that this would be a Government that would make a step change, comprehensively and across all areas of government, in provision for people with special needs or with disabilities, and with a particular focus on young people. The issue of disability is represented at the Cabinet table by a full Minister, and I am in the process of establishing the first ever disability unit within the Department of An Taoiseach to troubleshoot and co-ordinate across all Departments the provision of services for people with disabilities.

To go through the various areas, first, the need is increasing all the time. The 2022 census is indicative of that in terms of the increase in the numbers of people identifying with a special need. Fundamentally, in education, there has been an exponential increase in investment. There has been a major increase in resources in terms of special needs assistants, with approximately 23,400 of them now. There are 20,800 special education teachers. The expenditure on SNAs alone is approximately €1 billion per year and that is the way it should be. Enrolment in special classes has doubled in five years, with nearly 19,000 students being supported in 3,335 classes, and more than 2,700 new placements are planned for 2025-26.

A new national therapy service in education, beginning in special schools, has been agreed upon by Cabinet and work is under way to get that in place, partially in the next school year, 2025-26, and fully thereafter.

In terms of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, 39 new therapist posts have been approved. That recruitment is well under way and has been quite successful and effective.

In regard to income supports, the Minister for Social Protection is working on specific budget provisions for children in particular, and people more generally, with disabilities.

On transport, we have specifically asked the Minister for Transport to work on the mobility issues. We are working with the Department of Finance to put the disabled tax scheme back on a proper footing, and on a better footing than was the case beforehand.

In respect of the assessment of need, quite fundamentally, we need to change the legislation. The High Court decision necessitates, in my view, a change in legislation to ensure therapists are directed and streamlined to provide services to children more quickly than is currently the case. We currently have a finite number of therapists in the country. The real objective has to be to use those therapists optimally in providing services to children. I say that very clearly because I am looking for solutions here and that is one nettle we have to grasp.

It will be challenging, but we still have a Cabinet subcommittee on disability and it has asked the Minister for children and the Department of children to come back with legislative proposals in respect of the assessment of need area. Recruiting and retaining therapists is very important, as is the mutual recognition of qualifications across Europe and with the United Kingdom to enable us to bring in more therapists from overseas in addition to those we will produce through our colleges.

Tá gach aon iarracht á dhéanamh ag an Rialtas chun déileáil leis an bhfadhb seo. Tá an-chuid áiseanna ann ach an rud is tábhachtaí ná go bhfuil gá ann an córas a athrú go tapa.

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