Dáil debates

Tuesday, 17 May 2016

Adjournment Debate

Special Educational Needs Service Provision

9:00 pm

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Tá mé buíoch go bhfuil deis agam labhairt ar an rún seo. Ba mhaith liom gach dea-ghuí a thabhairt don Aire Stáit, an Teachta Finian McGrath, ina ról nua. Tá mé ag tnúth le bheith ag obair leis chomh maith.

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat.

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I propose to raise a number of important issues that have been brought to my attention by the parents of children with disabilities who are encountering obstacle after obstacle as they seek to secure essential and basic services for their children. These services are not available in counties Laois and Offaly, which has resulted in Laois Offaly Families for Autism, LOFFA, staging ongoing protests to highlight the absence of basic services for their children. I refer to speech and occupational therapy services, which are essential to the development of all children, especially those with autism.

LOFFA has held a number of meetings on this issue with Health Service Executive management in the past year. However, little progress has been made and the services available are declining further in both counties. Almost 1,000 school age children are on a waiting list for occupational therapy, with waiting times currently standing at approximately 47 months. This is scandalous in this day and age, especially given that these services are crucial to the well-being and educational attainment of the children in question. Such waiting lists are at odds with the provisions of the Education Act 1998 which states that every child has the right to a high quality education. The children on waiting lists in Laois-Offaly cannot attain a high quality education when basic, essential services are not in place. I highlight this important issue because it has been ongoing for some years and must be resolved once and for all.

Last year, LOFFA published a report clearly outlining the decline in the services available for children with disabilities. It is hard to believe that, rather than improving, services for children for disabilities are deteriorating. Children are waiting for three years to access speech and language therapy services and a further three years to access a psychologist. The school age team has yet to be put in place, which means no worthwhile intervention is available for the children in question. Were it not for the work of LOFFA, which represents 400 families, the position would be much worse. I commend LOFFA on the work it is doing but the children in question should get more support.

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Deputy to conclude.

Photo of Carol NolanCarol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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On the assessment of needs, the compliance rate in respect of the time limits set out in the Disability Act 2005 stands at 9% in counties Laois and Offaly. This means the failure rate stands at 91%, which is disgraceful. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, advise as to when sufficient resources will be put in place to provide necessary and basic services for these vulnerable children? What funding will be provided for the provision of such services? What are the plans for recruitment of a school age team for the children in question? Will more effort be made to improve the low rate of compliance?

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I must call Deputy Barry Cowen as Deputy Nolan is eating into his time.

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I commend and thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing Deputy Carol Nolan and me to ask the Minister of State questions on this issue. I join Deputy Nolan in making representations on behalf of the Laois-Offaly Families for Autism, LOFFA, whose members number 400. Fifteen years ago when the organisation was founded, members of LOFFA did not expect to be pleading for the rights of their children, families and communities to be met 15 years later.

During the recent negotiations on the formation of a Government, the Fianna Fáil Party insisted on the reappointment of a Minister of State with responsibility for rural affairs. We expected that this Minister of State would have a handle on all Government legislation, across all Departments, that deals with the provision of services. The lack of this type of process in recent years is especially evident in the deficiency in services in the Laois-Offaly region. As Deputy Nolan indicated, the information collated by LOFFA in recent years proves that the provision of special educational facilities and services in the Laois-Offaly district of the Health Service Executive lags far behind comparable regions elsewhere in the country.

As a result of the efforts made by LOFFA and the consultations with public representatives, including me, in which it has engaged in recent years, the HSE and Department gave a commitment in May last year that four psychologists and 20 therapists would be appointed in the region and efforts would be made to dilute the substantial waiting list in the area and improve services and facilities for children with autistic tendencies or diagnoses. That is not to speak of the extensive waiting lists for early examinations and consultations and the services to be provided thereafter. However, no progress has been made since that commitment was given. It has been shown, for example, that in respect of the assessment of needs, the compliance rate with the statutory obligations set out in the Disability Act stands at 9%. This is shameful, unfortunate and inappropriate.

In our consultations on the formation of the Government, the Fianna Fáil Party insisted that many of the guiding principles would require the provision of early intervention, diagnosis and other appropriate services to assist people in this area.

9 o’clock

We also insisted that public services would outnumber taxation issues by two to one. We need to see concrete evidence of this and need an indication from the new Government that this will be addressed. I expect we will be given reasons as to why progress has not been made and as to why appointments have not been forthcoming. However, Ministers must learn from that and make sufficient changes to the methods by which people are sought and appointed in order for the service to be provided to those who need it most.

9:10 pm

Photo of Finian McGrathFinian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I thank Deputies Barry Cowen and Carol Nolan for raising this issue and I welcome Deputy Carol Nolan to the Dáil as a first time Member of the Oireachtas.

I will begin by assuring the Deputies that this partnership Government is committed to the provision and development of services for children with special needs and to improving access for these children to therapy services. The current programme for Government commits the Government to improving services and increasing supports for people with disabilities, particularly early assessment and intervention for children with special needs. This is an issue I pushed for during talks regarding the programme for Government. While significant resources have been invested by the health sector in services for children with disabilities over the past number of years, I am acutely aware of the large body of work that needs to be done to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and I am in agreement with the two Deputies on that.

As the Deputies will be aware, health-related therapy supports and interventions for children can be accessed through both the HSE's primary care services and its disability services, depending on the level of need. In 2013, additional funding of €20 million was allocated to strengthen primary care services and to support the recruitment of more than 260 prioritised front-line primary care posts. In terms of primary care services nationally, the HSE is currently finalising its proposals to improve access to primary care speech and language therapy services and to addressing the waiting lists for assessment and therapy treatment. Some €4 million has been provided in the HSE's service plan to address this issue and details of the proposals will be announced shortly.

The HSE has also recognised that early intervention services and services for school aged children with disabilities need to be standardised. To this end a major reconfiguration of therapy resources for children with disabilities aged up to 18 years is currently under way. The HSE's national programme on progressing disability services for children and young people from birth to 18 years aims to bring about equity of access to disability services and consistency of service delivery, with a clear pathway for children with disabilities and their families to services, regardless of where they live, what school the child attends or the nature of the individual child's difficulties.

There is also a greater emphasis than heretofore on the health and education sectors working more closely together in terms of supporting children with special needs to achieve their potential. Implementation of the programme is taking place on a phased basis in consultation with stakeholders, including service users and their families. It is a key priority for the executive's social care directorate for 2016. Since 2014, the roll-out of the progressing disability services for children and young people programme has entailed targeted investment of €14 million and the provision of 275 additional therapy staff to increase services for all children with disabilities. This level of investment underlines the Government's ongoing commitment to the development of therapy services, including early intervention services.

Reconfiguration of disability services in line with the programme is already under way in the HSE midlands, with Laois-Offaly receiving a total of 27 new therapy posts since 2014. It is acknowledged that waiting times to access required therapy interventions are unacceptably high in some areas, including Laois-Offaly. I accept the points made by the Deputies in regard to the major problems there. Access to these therapy services is not always equitable, with children in some areas facing longer waiting times than in other areas, where services are better resourced and more streamlined. However, the HSE midlands is committed to reducing waiting times for assessment and treatment.

I am confident and hopeful that the additional resources being invested into both primary and disability services will have a positive impact on the provision of clinical services to all children with disabilities, including autism, and to those who may currently be on waiting lists to access therapy inputs not just in Laois-Offaly but across the country.

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I call Deputy Mick Barry to raise his matter.

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Do I not get the opportunity to respond?

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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No, Standing Orders clearly allow for just five minutes for a statement and five for a reply.

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am inordinately disappointed the Minister of State did not respond accurately or effectively to the questions on the issues raised by me and Deputy Nolan. Previously, we would have been allowed make a second contribution.

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Standing Orders clearly state there are only ten minutes for each issue, five minutes for a statement and five for a reply.