Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she has sought or received any report on the deployment of occupational therapists who work for the Health Service Executive; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the service is unable to provide a service for children with special needs who require a support for sensory perception; her views on whether too much of the time of occupational therapists is absorbed in building inspections for grant purposes which could be provided under supervision by suitability trained construction experts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12984/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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There has been a growing demand for, and investment in, occupational therapy services over the last number of years. 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 occupational therapy has been increased from 29 to 110 which represents an increase of 279%. The numbers employed in occupational therapy has also grown significantly, with 291 whole time equivalents employed in December 1997 compared to 1,078 whole time equivalents employed in December 2008, which represents an increase of 270%.

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 occupational 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, 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.

Subject to overall parameters set by Government, the Health Service Executive has the responsibility for determining the composition of its staffing complement. It is a matter for the Executive to manage and deploy its human resources to best meet the requirements of its Annual Service Plan for the delivery of health and personal social services to the public. With regard to the deployment and duties of occupational therapists, as this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.