Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

Subsections (5) and (6) have been inserted in section 7 of the 1998 Act by section 40 of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act of 2004. These subsections provide that in carrying out his or her functions in respect of the provision, planning and co-ordination of support services, the Minister may, following consultation with the Minister for Health and Children, request the assistance of a relevant health board and that health board shall comply with this request. Given that section 2 of the Act has been amended and given the responsibility of the Health Service Executive in this regard, subsections (5) and (6) of section 7 are no longer required to allow the Minister for Education and Skills to request the assistance of health boards to make speech therapy provision. These sections of the Act predated the establishment of the HSE and the enactment of the Disability Act of 2005.

The Department of Education and Skills remains committed to supporting the co-ordinated delivery of services to families of children with special educational needs and it will continue to work with service providing partners in the health and disability sectors through the cross-sectoral team as established under the auspices of the Minister with responsibility for disability and mental health and of the national disability strategy stakeholder monitoring committee.