Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am here asking a number of questions and the Minister of State may or may not have some of the answers. It is important to raise the issue once again and to highlight the problems we are likely to encounter in advance of September and the intake of students into special schools.

The Minister of State is obviously aware that there was a pilot scheme to reintroduce therapists, OT, physio, speech and language therapists, etc., into special schools, initially run in Cork and Dublin, with three special schools in Cork and five or six special schools in Dublin. It is something that at this stage is universally agreed should never have been taken out of schools in terms of the introduction of PDS and how that model has basically failed to deliver for students and families alike. That said, the pilot scheme has been up and running for six or seven months at this stage. I would have advocated strongly on behalf of a school in Cork, St. Killian's Special School in Mayfield, where, after a lengthy campaign, it was successful in being allowed to procure privately the therapists it needed because it was excluded from the initial intake in the special pilot scheme.

Where are we at with the pilot scheme? Given we have a commitment from Government that therapists will be reintroduced at all levels into all special schools in the country, and I understand that will most likely be done on a phased basis, where we are with the pilot with the seven or eight schools that were initially selected last year? As far as I am concerned, the pilot is surely moot at this stage. If we are allocating all the therapists to all schools, is the pilot for those that were chosen for it last year essentially scrapped and defunct at this stage? If it is, that is fine because it is merely the reality of where we are at because we are reintroducing therapists to all schools. It is important to establish on a factual basis where we are with that pilot.

The difficulty we are likely to face with some of the schools that have been placed on that pilot as of last September is that the majority of them still have teams that do not have their full complement of staff. In all three cases in Cork, they have struggled to appoint the full complement of staff in the six months the pilot scheme has been up and running. My concern is, if we are putting therapists back into all special schools, given we have struggled to appoint staff to the three in Cork that were selected, and Cork has 14 or 15 special schools in total, what is the likelihood of us successfully staffing all those other schools if we cannot even do it successfully in the three that were selected for the pilot? In fairness, that is the concern being expressed by most parents and families in those schools that are affected.

I understand the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, would have made statements recently about the national therapy service and how it is highlighted in the programme for Government that this scheme will be rolled out to all schools. However, can we get down to the phasing of it, how she will staff it, and whether certain roles will be prioritised, be those speech and language therapy, physio, nurses or whatever the case may be? Is there any kind of roadmap for how we are to staff it and successfully implement it in all the special schools?

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important question. The core principle of progressing disability services, PDS, is to achieve fairer and more equitable access to services for all children with disabilities based on their needs. This includes access to school-based therapy supports for children attending special schools in the country, including in Cork.

The Minister fully acknowledges the frustrations faced by families of children in special schools and the urgent need for therapy provision within special schools. To progress the reinstatement of health and social care supports, which were historically provided in some special schools in the State, funding for an additional 224 whole-time equivalent, WTE, posts was provided by Government across 2021 and 2022. The HSE has advised that just over 155 of these WTE posts have been filled. While some services have been reinstated, progress has been affected by the international shortage of health and social care professionals.

In August 2024, Government agreed to support 16 schools to join the special schools' pilot for enhanced in-school therapy supports during the 2024-2025 academic year. The pilot is delivered by the children’s disability network teams, led by the Health Service Executive and its funded agencies, in selected special schools in Cork, Dublin and Galway and is supported by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. This pilot aims to provide an integrated model of service, ensuring all stakeholders, including special schools, have relevant input and, through effective governance mechanisms, are able to verify that additional resources are implementing the required level of service for children and their families.

Under phase 1 of the pilot, the HSE advises that all four schools in the Cork area have filled the therapy posts assigned through the pilot. Under phase 2, both Cork schools in this phase have filled all therapy posts allocated as part of the pilot.

Under the 2025 programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, there is a commitment to introduce a national therapy service in education, commencing in special schools and subsequently extending it to schools with special classes and mainstream provision. This service will be delivered by the NCSE, building on its work previously completed through the educational therapy support service. It is intended that the national therapy service will commence in some special schools at a later stage in the 2025-2026 school year. The Department of Education and Youth has advised that further roll-out of the service will occur on a phased basis, with a wider roll-out commencing in the 2026-2027 school year. The Department of Education and Youth has advised that, initially, the service will include the disciplines of occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. Over time, further disciplines such as physiotherapy may be included. Officials in the Department of Education and Youth have begun engagement with relevant Departments and agencies on the design, timelines, alignment, integrated working and costings involved to deliver this ambitious programme of work.

Regarding the provision of private therapies for children with disabilities, the Government and the Minister remain supportive of the use of available private capacity, and the funding of same. The HSE will also continue to prioritise the recruitment of remaining therapists to work in special schools, as approved and resourced by Government in 2021 and 2022. I assure the House that this Government will continue to diligently engage with the HSE, service providers and families to ensure children with disabilities receive the support and services they require.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am one of the best people to come into the House and criticise and give out about how we are implementing or not implementing things, but in fairness, in this response, it is the first time it has been clarified for me that the three special schools in Cork have been fully staffed. That is the first time I have heard that or seen it in writing. That is to be welcomed.

The pilot scheme in Cork has worked if we have managed to fully staff it. Whatever about the outcomes for people availing of the service, the fact we have appointed all the therapists who were required in those three schools needs to be deemed as some bit of a success. I make that point, not in a condescending way. Typically, we are in here, and I was in the Chair earlier, listening to recurring issues of not getting home help for people, or the resources or money being allocated but being unable to get the staff, but in the case of the three special schools on the initial pilot scheme, we have fully staffed them, which is welcome.

The difficulty I have with the response is that it is stated we will continue to roll out the service on a phased basis. There is no end time to a phased basis. It is stated in the reply that it is commencing in 2026-2027. Are we working towards the end of the decade here? What is the target for appointing the remaining therapists?

I welcome that we are prioritising OTs and speech and language therapists in particular. It is also stated in the reply that further disciplines such as physios may be included. I am not an expert in this field. I was a teacher but I am not an expert in therapies. Will the Minister of State expand on why we are prioritising OT and speech and language over physio? That is what this answer implies.

The only request I ask the Minister of State to take back to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is to give us some roadmap for full implementation of this because, as I said, most of these families have suffered the best part of a decade of no service or, at best, little service.

It is important that we give them some type of light at the end of the tunnel.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy and welcome his comments. I agree with him that we need a roadmap to see where we are going. It cannot be spaced out over time because children with disabilities need supports now.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, are working closely together to ensure this is rolled out as quickly as possible. Despite all of these challenges, work is ongoing to develop services that can meet the needs of families and children with complex needs, including those attending special schools. The collaborative work to date between stakeholders to ensure the effective delivery of the special schools pilot is acknowledged. This has enabled the recruitment of all posts for Cork, which the Deputy mentioned. Furthermore, the National Disability Authority has been commissioned by the HSE to undertake an independent evaluation of the special schools pilot with a full report expected late in the summer of this year. The results of this evaluation will be used to identify how the initial phase of the pilot has gone and to improve further delivery.

In addition, the cross-sectoral group on disability issues for children and young people, which provides leadership and supports decision-making for key Departments and agencies, will have a role in the delivery of disability services. This has been jointly re-established by the Departments of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. and the Education. The cross-sectoral group engages on and directs key strategic policy issues that arise. This includes supporting the special schools pilot steering group, which has been incorporated into a subgroup.

The Minister wishes to restate her full commitment and that of the Department and the HSE to pursuing all avenues to ensure that access to school-based therapists for children with special needs in Cork and across the country is a priority.