Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 95: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the way in which the goals of having more professionals trained and thus available for the regions in areas such as orthodontics, physiotherapy, radiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy can be achieved (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the difficulties being experienced in some regions in filling professional health vacancies. [4155/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Significant progress has been made in increasing the number of training places in a wide range of health and social care professional courses in recent years. Following the implementation of the recommendations of the Bacon report, approximately 152 undergraduate places are available to students who want to study physiotherapy in Ireland. The number of occupational therapy training places has more than tripled to 110 since 2000. The number of speech and language therapy training places has more than quadrupled to 105 in the same period.

The report on the development of radiation oncology services in Ireland identified the need to increase significantly the number of radiation therapists to meet human resource needs under the proposed expansion of radiotherapy services. In advance of the implementation of the report's recommendations, the annual intake into Trinity College's school of radiation therapy increased from ten in 2000 to 25 in 2002. The Department of Health and Children has also taken steps to address the shortage of trained staff in orthodontics and to improve orthodontic services through the grade of specialist in orthodontics. Six dentists successfully completed the three year specialist in orthodontics training and commenced work in the Health Service Executive in October 2004. A further 13 dentists are in training.

The increased intake of students into the professions I have mentioned will help to address the health service's human resource requirements and to provide the personnel required for future health care demands, thereby assisting the delivery of the goals in the Disability Bill. In this context, the Deputy may wish to note that an additional €70 million in revenue funding has been provided for services to support people with disabilities in 2005. This will enable people with disabilities to receive new services from more than 1,000 front line staff, including therapy professionals.

Responsibility for human resource planning, recruitment and monitoring and filling vacancies in the health service rests with the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005 under the Health Act 2004. The Department of Health and Children has asked the interim chief executive officer of the executive to investigate the filling of professional health vacancies and to respond directly to the Deputy.