Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 316: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when a medical card appeals officer for Dublin north will be appointed; the reason for the delay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4645/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 317: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the action she will take to meet the shortage of speech therapists currently in the health service here; her plans to increase the number of speech therapists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4655/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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There has been a growing demand for, and investment in, speech and language therapy services over the last number of years.

There were a number of issues contributing to difficulties accessing therapy services, one of which had been the supply of qualified personnel available to fill vacant posts. A particular priority for my Department and the Department of Education and Science in recent years has been the expansion of the supply of therapy graduates. The Government has also invested heavily in the education and training of such personnel in order to secure a good supply of graduates to provide for the healthcare needs of the population into the future. In this regard, since 1997, the number of training places for speech and language therapy has been increased from 25 to 105 which represents an increase of 320%.

Almost 130,000 people work full-time or part-time in our public health services. In recent years, the Government's ongoing high level of investment in health has achieved and maintained significant increases in the numbers of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals employed in the public health services. The numbers employed in speech and language therapy has also grown significantly, from 282 whole time equivalents employed in December 1997 rising to 750 whole time equivalents employed in December 2008, which represents an increase of 166%.

The Government is committed to ensuring continued adequate recruitment of professional staff across a range of community settings to ensure the continued development of community services. Additional funding of €20 million has been provided in 2009 for health and education services for children with special educational needs. This funding will provide a total of 125 additional therapy posts in the HSE targeted at children of school-going age. 90 of these will be in the disability services, including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists. 35 additional posts will be provided for child and adolescent mental health services, including clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists for new and existing multi-disciplinary teams.

In addition, it is intended that certain key health and social care professional posts, including speech and language therapists, are to be protected by setting employment floors for these grades within the Health Service Executive (HSE) in 2009. These posts are essential to the development of a number of services areas such as disability (including speech and language therapy), child adolescent mental health services and child protection services. In order to protect these posts, it is envisaged that the HSE will establish minimum employment levels to be maintained within each of these occupations in the health sector in 2009. The recruitment and retention of these key front line professional posts is vital to ensure continued progress in the development of community settings.