Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I refer specifically to the professions of occupational therapy and speech therapy. Over a period of time I have encountered difficulty in having work carried out under the housing aid for the elderly scheme, operated by the HSE. As we were not able to get an occupational therapist examination, report and recommendation, individual work and undertakings could not proceed because approval for the work was not forthcoming. On inquiry, I discovered that while we have a range of occupational therapists with a considerable volume of responsibility within the HSE organisation, many occupational therapists for various reasons are not at work and are not in a position to come to work to examine these cases.

Related disciplines may have expertise allowing them to examine, report and recommend solutions to specific problems. Where a ramp needs to be installed for somebody who is wheelchair-bound to give access to a front or back door, I fail to understand why the professional work could not be undertaken by an engineer who would be engaged by an agency or for a specific period by the HSE to fill the void during the period when the occupational therapists are not available and would examine, report and recommend so that the work could proceed.

It is not a question of resources not being available under the particular heading for the HSE. It has significant resources and is doing excellent work in this area. The Minister of State should ask the HSE to examine that possibility urgently. I do not accept that a qualified engineer could not carry out this work in a similar fashion to the occupational therapist. I accept that there are other responsibilities in the HSE on which engineers would not be to suitable to report and make recommendations.

In some two-storey houses a downstairs toilet needs to be installed. There is no reason an engineer could not recommend that the toilet facilities be provided downstairs because the occupant may use a Zimmer frame or wheelchair or be partially disabled in such a way that they are not able to negotiate the stairs.

Given the number of young females in both professions, occupational therapy and speech therapy, it is inevitable that they will occasionally be absent through pregnancy or illness. We need to have formulas to deal with these circumstances. I have already outlined the issues regarding occupational therapists. There are also delays in dealing with young children with special needs who require speech therapy. Insufficient numbers of speech therapists are available. It must be possible to organise, in conjunction with their parents, qualified speech therapists to co-ordinate and supervise services to provide the tuition these children require. This would be better than there being no speech therapy services available because there are not enough personnel to provide them. It may be that, at any given time, the HSE is not in a position to recruit a sufficient number of speech therapists. There must be a fall-back position.

I would be happy to discuss this matter with the Minister of State and the officials in the personnel unit of the HSE responsible for dealing with it. We must be practical and innovative and find solutions where they are required.

Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank the Deputy for raising it because it provides me with an opportunity to outline to this House the issues in respect of the staffing levels relating to the grades to which he referred.

The latest available figures show that in the period since the establishment of the Health Service Executive to 30 September 2006, the number of health and social care professionals employed in the area covered by the former North Eastern Health Board increased by 37 whole-time equivalents from 788 to 826, an increase of 4.7%. In the specific grades of health and social care professionals to which the Deputy referred, there have been increases of 7.9%, 0.8% and 19.4%, respectively, in the numbers of occupational, speech and language therapists and social workers in the same period. In addition, there was a significant increase, between October 2001 and June 2006, in the salary scale relating to speech and language therapists. This resulted in an increase of 32% at the minimum point of the scale and an increase of 31.8% at the maximum.

As the Deputy may be aware, the health service personnel census collects employment information in respect of the Health Service Executive, voluntary hospitals and certain disability services on the basis of administrative areas and not on a county basis. He may also be aware that many services are provided on a national, regional and cross-county basis. Total staffing in the former North Eastern Health Board area increased by 4.8% to 7,635, the number of medical and dental personnel increased by 7.3% to 530 and the number of nursing personnel increased by 4.0% to 2,622.

In response to concerns regarding labour shortages, the Department of Health and Children commissioned a report from Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates on current and future supply and demand conditions to 2015 in the labour market for speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. The report was published in 2001. Arising from its recommendations, three additional speech and language therapy courses commenced in the 2003-04 academic year at University College Cork, the National University of Ireland Galway, and the University of Limerick, providing an additional 75 training places for speech and language therapy. This expansion in training numbers was identified in the Bacon report as sufficient to meet the long-term demand-supply balance for speech and language therapists in Ireland. The first graduates from the two-year masters course at UL completed their studies in June 2005. The first graduates from the BSc courses in UCC and NUIG will graduate in 2007.

The Deputy will also be aware that it is a matter for the Health Service Executive, as part of its management of its employment ceiling, to determine the appropriate staffing mix required to deliver its service plan priorities. The Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, has been advised that the HSE is undertaking a national and international recruitment campaign to fill current vacancies and development posts and that the situation will be reviewed in 2007.

I am aware that the Health Service Executive has also advised the Department of Health and Children that it is currently carrying out an in-depth appraisal of staffing levels in all services in County Louth. It is expected that this will be completed shortly. I will bring to the attention of the Minister for Health and Children and her officials the valid points made by the Deputy.