Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 480: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that staffing levels for speech and language therapists in County Kildare remain at 1998 levels; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that prior to the public service embargo on recruitment, the service had sanction for 11 additional therapists; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that for every €1 spent on early intervention, a person will save €7 at a later stage; and if the Health Service Executive's personnel section will look at this issue with a view to sanctioning additional therapists. [2430/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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There is no embargo on recruitment in the public health service. It is a matter for the Health Service Executive, as part of the management of its employment ceiling to determine the appropriate staffing mix required to deliver upon its service plan priorities.

As the human resource management issues raised by the Deputy are a matter for the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004, the executive's parliamentary affairs division has been asked to investigate the issues raised and to reply directly to the Deputy. The Deputy will wish to know, however, that my Department's health service employment census indicates that the number of speech and language therapists employed by the Health Service Executive in what was formerly the Eastern Regional Health Authority area, which includes County Kildare, increased by 62% from 136 to 222 personnel in whole-time equivalent terms in the period between 31 December 1998 and 30 September 2005.