Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I have raised a number of times in the past the issue of the return of therapists to special schools, including St. Killian's Special School and Cara Junior School in my constituency. Figures I have received show that there are 368 students in special schools in children's disability network team, CDNT, 8 in my constituency, and they have only been sanctioned two full-time therapists for 368 students. I spoke with the principals from special schools in my constituency today. They are beyond frustrated, and they are exhausted. They are being told, and were told by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, that this will happen, but they have not been given a date and it has not happened. I know there is a meeting next week. I ask now that they be given an adequate and swift timeline for when this will happen. Parents Unite, an advocacy group for St. Killian's Special School, has put together a potential package that will cost €150,000. That would see a return to the therapy levels that were there in 2020. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister and the Department to sanction the €150,000 to provide the therapists these children desperately need.

The Minister of State met with these parents in November 2023. She indicated that if they were to source therapists, she would be supportive. The school has done it and the parents have worked with it. Now, the Minister is ghosting them. Will the Minister of State, the Government and the Minister involved in the Department finally provide the therapists that are needed and the money that is required? We have a solution. We hear constantly that money is not the issue. The ball is in the Minister of State's court.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Education is about ensuring that every child can reach his or her greatest potential and thrive. Obviously, that means a great deal of different things to individual children and families. For children in special schools and children in places like St. Killian's Special School, which is a remarkable place, therapies are absolutely crucial to ensuring that those children can reach their fullest potential. At the minute, they are extremely frustrated because they do not believe their children are getting the support those children deserve. We would do well to remember what this means in real terms and what the provision of this will mean for those children and parents and the staff.

St. Killian's Special School, which is based in Mayfield, cares for people with dyslexia, dyspraxia and speech and language issues and pupils with a diagnosis of autism and complex needs. Since 2020, they have not received any therapy in speech and language, occupation therapy, social work, play therapy and physiotherapy. Before that, they were receiving three half days of therapy each week. They were told, and I suppose they received some encouragement from the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, that if they looked for a private multidisciplinary team to undertake the therapeutic services at St. Killian's Special School, the Minister would cover the cost of trying to find that and the funding might be in place. The last they heard was in November 2020. I am sure we could say that things were happening in the background, but the least the school and parents deserve is to hear back. That is seven going on eight months ago now. I am hoping that progress was happening in the background but I am worried that it has hit a roadblock. I want to hear from the Minister of State what is finally happening now that they have done the work. They have done everything right. They have gone through the channels. They have gone through the Department. They went away and found a provider. They know the costs. They want to know whether the Department will now cover the costs. I think they deserve it, and the Department should assist them.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputies Ó Laoghaire and Gould for raising this really important discussion. My colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Rabbitte, is fully committed to the continued development and enhancement of children’s disability services through the implementation of the progressing disability services roadmap for service improvements from 2023 to 2026, which seeks to ensure that we have equitable access to services for all children with complex needs. This includes school-based therapy supports for the Cork education and training board, ETB, special schools and across the country.

The concerns of families of children with complex needs to whom both Deputies referred and who attend special schools is acknowledged, as is the urgent need for therapy provision within special schools, which is an important avenue. In order to progress the reinstatement of health and social care supports that were historically provided in some special schools in the State, funding for an additional 221 posts was provided across 2021 and 2022. Additionally, it was agreed that the special school-based services must be aligned with the existing children’s disability network teams.

The Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth is engaging with the HSE on a number of measures to support schools. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability is also engaging with the HSE following the receipt of a recent proposal on a number of measures to support special schools in the areas centred around a grant funding to special schools, consideration on the nursing provision to CDNTs and consideration on supports for challenging behaviours.

The Minister of State has listened to the frustrations of both parents and schools and, together with the Department and the HSE, is committed to strengthening staffing in children's disability services.

I assure the House and both Deputies that the Minister of State’s Department will continue to engage with HSE senior management to drive enhancements in disability services for children attending the Cork ETB special schools, as well as special schools throughout the country.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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There is a serious knock-on effect for children because of the failures to provide therapies. Behavioural issues are getting worse, children are falling behind and through the gaps, and staff are under constant pressure and stress, all of which could be resolved. We will not be able to fix everything but if the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, were to provide €150,000, the therapies that are needed could be provided.

It is shocking that more than 750 children in Cork are waiting on assessments of needs. The waiting time for an assessment of needs 12 weeks before the process starts and 26 weeks before it finishes. A total of 750 children have been waiting on average 21.5 months, not the three months it should be. This is what the Government is doing. I am dealing with a child in Cork who is tube-fed but cannot get a space in a special ASD class because there is a shortage. Children with disabilities are not being supported.

We have had a lot of talk and the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, is now going to list out all the money the Government is spending, but the parents of these children do not want to hear that. They want their children to see therapists and get support because they are falling behind, and the Government is failing them.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I will quote from the response the Minister of State gave. He stated, "I know that my colleague the Minister of State with responsibility for disability services, Deputy Rabbitte, is fully committed to the continued development and enhancement of our children’s disability services through the implementation of the progressing disability services", and it carried on like that. I then look at what the Tánaiste said last Thursday, when he stated:

There is an issue with disability services and CDNT teams. My view is that the progressing disability programme has not worked. The progressing disability policy was announced in 2013 and it simply has not worked and we need to change it.

I am not sure what to make of that. The Minister of State's response put everything on the progressing disability services but the Tánaiste is saying they are not working and that we need to change them, so I do not know where that leaves us if we are relying on that.

Apart from that, the response the Minister of State gave us left us none the wiser in some respects. It referred in general terms to resources for Cork and the Cork ETB and I am sure that is welcome, but the key point is this school would not have procured a service from the private market unless it had been given assurances. It just would not have done that. It did that on the strength of assurances. Are those assurances going to be met, and if not, where does that leave the school? Schools throughout the country have frustrations about not being able to access various services, but the least they could expect is to get a straight answer. I truly hope this school was not led up the garden path and that we will find out this is all to follow, but if it was, that is not good enough.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I again thank both Deputies for raising this important matter and reiterate the full commitment of the Minister of State, her Department and the HSE to pursuing every avenue to ensure access to school-based therapies for children with disabilities in Cork and throughout the country. As the Deputies will be aware, the Taoiseach has convened a new Cabinet committee to deal with children's disability and access to therapists, which has had two meetings to date. I am sure they will welcome the establishment of this new committee to ensure there will be better alignment with the Government's priorities in dealing with assessments of need and the long delays but also to ensure families will have access to practitioners in both community services and the school environment. The Minister of State expects a detailed series of projects arising from the working group, which will be informed on the future direction designed to better align health and education needs. That working group, which is within the roadmap governance structure, is tasked with enhancing engagement between the HSE, the Department of Education, the NCSE and NEPS to optimise integration between health and education and support special schools for the benefit of children with disabilities.

I will ensure the Minister of State is made aware of the issues the Deputies have raised. I again thank them for raising them on behalf of their constituents.