Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)

The Government and I recognise the importance of early intervention, and the programme for Government, as the Deputy knows, commits to ensuring children and their families get that early intervention and therapy input, and that they can access that support in a timely way.

A key response to this issue is the recruitment and retention of health and social care professionals, and I alluded to that in my last response. Substantial effort and investment has been made in this regard. Our CDNTs support almost 45,000 children with complex needs. HSE data from April of this year shows there has been an increase of 26% in CDNT staffing levels since October 2023 and the vacancy rate has reduced from 29% in 2023 to 18% in 2025, an 11% reduction.

I acknowledge that some families, as the Deputy said, are still facing unacceptable delays. Access to therapies for a child should not depend on whether their family can afford it. Rather than diverting funding to reimburse individuals for private therapy, we should utilise public funding to invest in our public system and to enhance the capacity to deliver these therapies free of charge. This is an issue of equity and it also speaks to our focus on building a sustainable service for children with disabilities. Notwithstanding this, individual health regions may procure private providers to provide therapies and interventions on a case-by-case basis. However, this is usually only in exceptional circumstances. This is about improving the pipeline of required therapies and a continued focus on recruitment and retention. We also need to develop that pipeline of future therapists through our third level education system, which we are doing.

In June, the Government approved an expansion in training places from September 2025 in disciplines critical to disability, health and education services. Additionally, alternative pathways into health and social care professions are being developed to widen access to critical skills areas. That includes apprenticeships, tertiary programmes, graduate conversion and mature entry.

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