David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 221: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the location of the 125 additional therapy posts in the disability and mental health services for which €10 million was provided in budget 2009; when she will begin recruitment for these posts; the number of posts and the grade to be filled in the various areas of expertise; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38695/08]

John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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In Budget 2009, an additional €20m was allocated for health and education services for children with special educational needs. €10 million of this allocation will be provided to the Health Service Executive (HSE), and €10 million to the Department of Education and Science. It is intended that this additional funding will enable the services provided to children with special educational needs to be enhanced and strengthened. The additional €10m allocated to the HSE will provide for 125 additional therapy posts in the disability and mental health services, targeted at children of school-going age. This will provide an additional 90 posts in the disability services area, to include speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists for children's disability services. There will be 35 additional posts for the child & adolescent mental health services, including clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, speech & language therapists and social workers for new and existing multi-disciplinary teams.

The Deputy's specific question regarding location, recruitment, numbers and grades relates to the management and delivery of health and personal services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.