Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [16741/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [23471/25]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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10. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [26852/25]

Martin Daly (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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11. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [27569/25]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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12. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [27570/25]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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13. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [27571/25]

Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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14. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [27572/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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15. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [29326/25]

Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [29816/25]

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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17. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [30139/25]

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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18. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [30180/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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19. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Disability will next meet. [30254/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 19, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on disabilities has been established to oversee the implementation of programme for Government commitments in the area of disability, with a specific focus on children’s disability services and disability services more generally under the forthcoming new national disability strategy. The Cabinet committee on disability last met on 5 June – a few days ago - and is due to meet again on 7 July.

Under the programme for Government, we are committed to delivering a step change in disability services. To deliver on this, I have established a stand-alone Cabinet committee on disability. This Government is committed to advancing the rights and improving the lives of people with disabilities. We will prioritise the publication of and fund a new national disability strategy, setting out a vision to 2030. We will adopt a whole-of-government approach and advance the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the optional protocol to the Convention of Persons with Disabilities.

I am also establishing a disability unit in my Department. The unit supports the work of the Cabinet committee on disability. It also supports the work of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, and other Ministers in driving cross-government work and collaboration to improve the lives of people with disabilities and to enable them to achieve their potential. A work programme for the unit is currently being finalised which will inform the overall resources and staffing required for the unit. A ministerial meeting and three Cabinet committee meetings have been held to date, in addition to broader cross-government engagement on the finalisation of the next disability strategy.

It is important to ensure the work of my Department does not duplicate others. Rather, it should further drive innovation via troubleshooting getting things done, give momentum to policy implementation and improve delivery of services. In recent times, we have focused on the provision of a national in-school therapy service. We have made very good progress on that and we hope to be in a position to start this in the forthcoming academic year. We are also working on a whole range of other transport and mobility issues. I have spoken to the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien, about these matters and I am working with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, to bring them to a conclusion.

The Department of Social Protection recently announced enhancements to the wage subsidy scheme to increase participation rates. Our last Cabinet subcommittee meeting focused on the issue of assessment of need and the national school in-therapy service as well as respite and residential care.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I welcome the proposals we have seen, which I believe went to the Cabinet today, to create nearly 500 new third level places in key health and social professions, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and more. As I said, this is welcome because we all recognise the enormous shortfall in services. The concern remains that it will take years for these new places to generate more qualified people.

As my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, documented last week, children are currently waiting far too long to see a therapist. The number of children waiting more than a year to see a psychologist had risen to almost 11,000 at the end of last year, from just under 4,000 four years ago, while the number on speech and language therapy waiting lists have soared by 200%. There is a crisis in services and concerns regarding how long it takes CORU to recognise and register graduates with qualifications from abroad.

What can be done now to bridge this current urgent gap in services to ensure there will be enough therapists to see children who are on these waiting lists, languishing and awaiting crucial services?

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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There was a march on Saturday through the streets of Dublin in horrendous weather. It was organised by parents, especially mothers, in a group called FUSS and Equality in Education Ireland. They are ordinary women who have had to spend their whole lives organising to get rights for their children. Many of them still do not have school places and many parents have contacted me who are in the same position.

Danu Community Special School is a school I have raised before.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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What is it called?

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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The Taoiseach's Government promised 12 families that they would have places in the school last September. All those children are sitting at home or doing another year in preschool because Government failed to deliver. All that is needed are modular buildings but we have to be honest here: this is linked to chronic underinvestment in the public sector and to the housing crisis. We cannot get therapists. It is great that the Government has increased the places but most of these people are leaving the public sector or emigrating. We cannot get teachers either - I know teachers failed to live up to the Government's expectations by rejecting the latest plan for the leaving certificate - and especially not in special education, where people are not trained or resourced. Will the Taoiseach guarantee that there will be a school place for every child who needs one in September?

Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I rise again to discuss therapeutic supports for children. As the Taoiseach said, the in-school therapy programme has been a huge success.

Even people in the Department were blown away by how many applied for the positions. Therapists like working in the school environment. It is the best place for therapies to be delivered to children and for their parents, the majority of whom work. In CHO 7, more than 2,700 people in Dublin South-Central are waiting for first contract. Some 2,100 of them have been waiting for more than 12 months. They do not even have a diagnosis yet. The dogs on the street know the CDNT model does not work. There was an intimation it would be scrapped before the general election. It is not working. I have never spoken to a parent who is happy with it. There is huge haemorrhaging of staff from CDNTs. I do not know where the bottleneck is. Why keep this model of care going when it is broken? Therapies need to be delivered in the school environment. It is the best place. Clinicians and therapists want to work in a school environment. The Taoiseach came from a school environment himself. It is a nice place to work. The staffroom is a friendly place. Teachers are good people. People like a nice work-life balance.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Two weeks ago, I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of unnecessary surgeries on children said to have hip dysplasia and unnecessary osteotomies. I questioned why the surgeons responsible had not been suspended or at the very least suspended from carrying out osteotomies. Since then, I have learned it is even worse than I feared. There was a meeting last Tuesday to decide on surgical indicators into the future for which children should get these operations. The two surgeons representing Temple Street were involved in doing unnecessary surgeries, according to the audit. The people responsible for the crisis are now writing the rules for who will get these operations in the future. It is mind-blowing. I do not know if the Government is aware of that. Does the Taoiseach think it is appropriate that the two surgeons representing Temple Street in these meetings conducted a significant number of unnecessary operations, according to the audit? Instead of driving it, they should be nowhere near this process.

Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his comments and continued focus and priority on disability matters. A cross-departmental approach is the only way we will improve disability services and the lives of those affected by disability. I am heartened to hear of progress on the work programme being worked on currently and that a new strategy document will be prepared. However, I have a question about progress in workstream 15 in the current action plan for disability services. It focuses on a strength and drive to support people with disabilities to live a life of their choosing. I recently met a mother representative of many other mothers and carers in Meath West and the nation who want their children to live as independently as possible so that when the parents are no longer around, their disabled children can fend for themselves as much as possible.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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September is just around the corner. Despite a flurry of announcements earlier this year, there is still no sign of delivery on special education. I say that because Knockmahon National School in Bunmahon in my county, Waterford, received approval from the NCSE in 2023 to provide an autism class but was refused funding this April. St. Mary's nationals school in Grange also in County Waterford was given no answer as to why the Department has ignored a SENO report asking for an increased SNA allocation. Scoil Gharbháin in Dún na Mainistreach, Dún Garbhán, was granted funding by the Department in December 2024 for space needed this September. Contact from the design team which was promised in February has not come. Garranbane National School just outside Dungarvan needs a second autism class immediately. A modular option would take two years at the minimum and would push back the prospect of a permanent building with additional mainstream classrooms and the school is forced into an unenviable choice. Extra space was sanctioned in St. John's Special School in Dungarvan by the Minister earlier this year. There is no sign of delivery or impetus from the Government to get those spaces. Ballycurrane National School in west Waterford is still waiting for a reply from the Department to a letter sent in January asking for its views on provision of a special class.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Sustained political will is needed. It will not happen by itself. The announcements are great but on their own they are nothing. I mentioned seven schools in west Waterford which have written to me in the past two months. We need to see concerted political action from the Government to ensure those spaces are available in September.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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At the weekend, I attended the Equality in Education protest in Dublin. The parents I met had a simple message. They want fairness and equality for their children with disabilities in education. No child should be left behind. Every child should get the support they need so they can grow, learn and flourish. Every child should be given every opportunity to reach their full potential. Not to do so is criminal. Denying any child an appropriate education is morally reprehensible. Parents should not have to fight for such a basic right for their child but fight they must. There are several families in my area in Dublin Mid-West who have not secured an appropriate place for their child for this September. I can send the details to the Taoiseach. Will the Taoiseach guarantee that every child with special educational needs will have an appropriate school place in September?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank all the Deputies for the issues raised. Deputy Bacik asked the initial question about therapists. Approximately 461 were approved by the Cabinet today. That was sweating the existing asset, if you like, within our third level system, seeing how many additional places we can provide in addition to those already in place across a range of therapies. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was asked by the Cabinet subcommittee that met two months ago to come back in a month and tell it what can be done with third-level colleges. In fairness, the Minister, Deputy Lawless, came back and secured an additional 461 places. That is just an initial step. There will be a more comprehensive programme to get additional investment in the universities with higher numbers again and additional capacities for therapists for next year. That will be crucial. The idea of an assistant therapist grade will also be explored, which could be very effective and useful in supporting therapists in schools or in CDNTs. I think that was the core issue the Deputy raised.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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It was about recognition of qualifications by CORU.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There will be engagement between the Department of Health, the Minister for Health, the HSE and CORU because there is an issue around recognition of qualifications for those who travel from overseas, even from the United Kingdom and within the European Union. It takes too long, given therapists are crucial. In other professions such as medicine it happens much more quickly in terms of mutual qualifications. There seems to be an issue in the therapy grades. I am concerned about that. We need to engage with CORU to get a proper understanding of that and see if the approval process can be accelerated.

Deputy Coppinger raised the issue of school places, along with a number of other Deputies. Huge efforts are being made. There has been a huge expansion of special education. Before the year is out, I think more than 11 special schools will have been established in the past three or four years. Five are being established this year. There are a lot more special classes - close to 400 special classes have been sanctioned. There are some issues. It should not take two years for a modular build. I do not understand that. The whole idea of modular is to do it faster. I was at the company recently that did the new Lucan Educate Together school, which is all modular. It is completed and it is a fine building. It involved modern methods of construction. The timeline could be late autumn for some of the sanctioned buildings to be provided. If Deputy McGuinness sends me the list of schools in Waterford, I will follow through with answers in respect of each case. He said some were at design stage. I cannot follow every individual process but we, including the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, are sparing no effort on the special education front. We have a record number of special needs assistants - there are more than 22,000 SNAs in our system. We will work with other countries in the European Union such as Finland to look at best practice across Europe in respect of disability and to examine whether more can be done with behavioural therapists.

There may be better deployment of different disciplines that would be more impactful and effective. The Minister brought proposals to Cabinet today on the common enrolment idea. There will be some trials next September. Can we bring forward the date by which parents signal their need for a place so the whole process starts much earlier in the school year and by the end of December, say, everyone will be in a much clearer position? That will not happen overnight, but we will make progress on it next autumn. That is absolutely crucial so parents have a degree of certainty and are not fighting all the time with different schools.

We still have some challenges in the Dublin area and I want to acknowledge that. We are working flat-out to see can we close that gap. We have made significant progress in the rest of the country. We have more places provided for now than people looking for places. The issue is to ensure there are not geographical gaps. That could happen. It is being worked on intensively.

On Deputy Ardagh's question about the in-school therapy service, there was a time prior to Progressing Disability Services or the CDNT issue when special schools had therapists. The Progressing Disability Services model was launched around 2013 and probably got substantial resources in 2017-18, so it has had faltering progress resource-wise. It has had huge difficulty in recruiting and retaining, notwithstanding the allocation of resources in the past few years. Before the election, we put it as part of our manifesto and it is part of the programme for Government that we would have a national in-school therapy service. That is now commencing but it will take time to bed down. We are going to start in special schools then expand it out to special classes and into mainstream. It is not designed as an alternative to the CDNT. We will need CDNTs across the country. In some parts of the country, apparently, they work. I am trying to be objective about this. My views are well-known. I am told it works in Donegal. However, we need to have proper alignment between the school teams and the CDNTs within the HSE. A multidisciplinary approach within the school setting is an optimal way to help children with additional needs. That is the aim and we are absolutely determined to achieve this in the first phase with all special schools. We will do the first half of special schools and then the next and then special classes and then mainstream. It will have a huge impact on schools as well. That will enable the CDNTs to focus on particular cases and can ease the work of therapy.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The time is up on this particular set of questions.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise. On dysplasia, I did not know that and was not aware of it. I will relay it to the Minister for Health. To Deputy Dempsey, I say independent living is important. She is correct a lot of parents have real anxiety about later life and if anything happens. That is something we are focused on. I spoke about Waterford, I think. To Deputy Ward, we are working to do everything we can to get places for children in schools. That is ongoing, focused, relentless work.