Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 265: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will establish a national working group comprising children with specific speech and language impairment and their parents and key agencies involved in service provision including her Department, the Department of Education and Science and the Health Service Executive, with a view to reviewing and establishing agreed terminology and diagnostic criteria for SSLI and addressing policy and service development. [21045/08]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The National Disability Strategy was launched in September 2004 following a number of positive legislative and policy measures in prior years, and contains a suite of elements, principally the Disability Act 2005, the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004, Sectoral Plans prepared by six government Departments during 2006, the Citizens Information Act 2007 and a multi-annual investment programme totalling some €900m between 2006 and 2009.

Recognising the cross-cutting nature of this subject, the Government announced the establishment of the Office for Disability and Mental Health in January 2008, to support the Minister for Disability & Mental Health in exercising his responsibilities across four Government Departments: Health & Children, Education & Science, Enterprise, Trade & Employment and Justice, Equality & Law Reform.

The new Office brings together responsibility for a range of different policy areas and State services which directly impact on the lives of people with a disability and people with mental health issues. The Office will aim to bring about improvements in the manner in which services respond to the needs of people with disabilities and mental health issues, by working to develop person-centred services, focussing on the holistic needs of clients and service users and actively involving them in their own care. The Director of the Office is a member of the Senior Officials Group on Social Inclusion, which monitors progress on the Government's commitments in relation to social policy, including the National Disability Strategy.

Very substantial progress has been made in recent years in the areas of disability and mental health, but much remains to be done. In particular, there is a need to improve co-ordination and communication across different Government Departments and agencies in their delivery of services to this client group. This will be the main focus for the new Office in the coming months.

A key priority for the Office for Disability and Mental Health is to support the implementation of the Health Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act 2005. The Office will focus in particular on facilitating the delivery of integrated health and education support services for children with special needs, by further developing existing mechanisms for co-operation and co-ordination between the health and education sectors, both at national and local level.

A Cross-Sectoral Team consisting of senior officials from the Office for Disability and Mental Health, the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Education and Science, the Health Service Executive and the National Council for Special Education was established in 2006 and meets on a regular basis. This group continues to address issues arising in relation to the implementation of both Acts. A sub-group of this team was set up in January 2008 in order to plan for the commencement of Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005 and the relevant sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 in respect of children aged between 5 and 18 and adults.

The focus of these groups is on the interaction required between the education and health sectors in order to advance and enhance services to people with disabilities. A wide range of matters are discussed in these fora and the matter raised by the Deputy will be considered by the Cross-Sectoral Team in this context.