Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of new physiotherapy posts expected to be created in 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13071/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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There has been a growing demand for, and investment in, physiotherapy 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 physiotherapists has been increased from 64 to 145 which represents an increase of 127%. The numbers employed in physiotherapy has also grown significantly, with 593 whole time equivalents employed in December 1997 compared to 1,449 whole time equivalents employed in December 2008, which represents an increase of 144%.

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. In addition, it is intended that certain key health and social care professional posts, including physiotherapists, 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 number of new physiotherapy posts expected to be created in 2009, as this is an operational matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.