Results 1,021-1,040 of 10,824 for speaker:Anne Rabbitte

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: In relation to special schools, this has now been going on for in excess of two years. It was in May 2021 that we placed a pause on the removal of therapists from special schools. We then sourced our secure funding for 86 therapists to be replaced into schools. Overall, we secured funding for 221 therapists, and only 126 have been returned. When I say “returned”, I mean that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: As I said to the Deputy, of the 221 whole-time equivalent posts, 126 have been filled. Wherever they are in the country, at this stage there is a shortfall of more than 700 whole-time equivalent staff on our CDNT teams, which have a role in supporting our special schools. The Wexford model has been phenomenal in the sense that there has been real collaboration there. I have no doubt the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Service Executive (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. It is a little bit like Cinderella at this hour, 12 midnight, and Deputy O'Sullivan appears. To be honest, we normally never get to deal with this number of questions. It is the first time we have done it, so I am answering this one totally unscripted. Luckily, I was at the committee today and I do remember what was said to his question. ...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Service Executive (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: Deputy O'Sullivan is right. We managed to clear the backlog with the funding that was sourced in 2020 when we had 6,500 children waiting for an assessment of need. It took us approximately 14 months to clear the entire backlog. Why have we found ourselves here again? We have found ourselves here again because of the soft model, which is the standard operational procedure, SOP, which meant...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Service Executive (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: This is a new concept I was not completely aware of, namely, that we have 63 specific speech and language disorder, SSLD, classes in the country, which are speech and language classes for children with very set criteria who have verbal dyspraxia. There are seven in a class with the lead teacher and a speech and language therapist. They know that with regular daily intervention over a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Deputy O'Sullivan very much. I have no doubt, given he is a Cork TD, that the introduction of therapists to special schools is primarily focused on Cork schools. To be honest with him, a comprehensive submission has been made in recent days by David Walsh and Bernard O'Regan. Officials in the Department have been meeting with the CEO of the HSE to address the introduction of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: With regard to the individual case the Deputy mentioned, officials in the Department have contacted the HSE and a response will issue to her in due course. It is being dealt with, therefore. There is no doubt we do not have enough PA hours or personal assistants to provide them. Nevertheless, as part of the transfer of function, this was one of the issues on which we were able to shine...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: Absolutely. On the reform of PA hours, even though we are spending so much on PAs, at in excess of €60 million on PA support, we do not have it underpinned with a proper framework, so work is ongoing in that regard and we are engaging with stakeholders on the review while, at the same time, ensuring we do not stop the delivery of hours or the roll-out. We are also looking to see what...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: My own connection with Variety is that I fund them. For clarity, it is the guts of €440,000 annually.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: It is from the Department, thanks to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. We play an important role. It is also important to inform the House that in recent weeks, we signed an agreement with the WHO, which has given us a lever into the next five years of assistive technology and looking at best practices, new models and how we can partner with a larger grouping to see where the best models for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Disability Services (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: The HSE, either directly or indirectly through a range of voluntary and private service providers, provides a range of assisted living services including PA and home support services. Some 80% of specialised disability provision is delivered through non-statutory sector service providers. PA services provide one-to-one support to people with physical disabilities in their homes and...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and the committee members. I welcome the opportunity to meet with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on the progression of recommendations in the joint committee's Report on Assessments of Need for Children, and to provide members with an up-to-date picture of the situation as regards assessments of need for...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank Deputy Tully for her question, which is a valid one. To be honest, it is part of recommendation No. 19: A clear plan must be communicated to parents regarding the situation with AONs going forward, including timelines and information on what measures are being taken, budgetary and otherwise, to get children the services they need. On the next page, recommendation No. 25 states:...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: Nobody wants any child to be waiting. That is why extra funding has been sourced and why there is a twin approach - for example, if the CDNT does not have the capacity or there are long waiters and the CDNT has not met its statutory requirements. We have to be honest that, in some cases, children have been waiting for up to two and a half years since the last backlog was cleared. It is...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: It is up 3%. It is not up massively.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: One issue that we have discovered is that people qualifying out of college need to ensure for their CORU registration, until they get comfortable and have enough experience, that they have clinical oversight. That was significant when progressing disability services was first rolled out. There were not enough senior clinical governance posts. Different disciplines did not have clinical...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: It has navigated this very poorly. It has not put enough thought into it. While it is fantastic to have the role of assistant therapist, which I agree will play a pivotal role in supporting a finite resource of clinicians, when the role was put in, I was of a firm belief that the assistant therapist needs to not just be a generic title but an assistant therapist in occupational therapy,...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: It is challenging.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Report on Assessments of Need for Children: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Anne Rabbitte: I thank the Senator for the question. I have no doubt Deputy Coveney will be asking a question in a similar vein. To be quite honest, it is one of the greatest challenges I have had since becoming Minister of State. We recognised back in 2021 the removal of therapists in May and June of that month was a levelling-down of services and there was a pause put on it. With that pause there was...