Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 544: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if he will ensure that a service of speech and language therapy will be provided for children with autism when they attend mainstream primary schools to bring them in line with the service children with autism receive when they attend special schools. [9678/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Specialist Disability services are provided to enable each individual with a disability to achieve his or her full potential and maximise independence, including living as independently as possible. Services are provided in a variety of community and residential settings in partnership with service users, their families and carers and a range of statutory, non-statutory, voluntary and community groups.

Services have been developed by individual service providers or former Health Boards over time and reflect the individual experience and expertise of providers in meeting local needs. This has led to variations in the way services are configured at the local level and, in relation to the provision of therapy supports for children with disabilities, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has recognised the need to enhance the level of consistency and standardisation in the way both early intervention services and services for school-aged children with disabilities are delivered. The reconfiguration of existing therapy resources to geographic based teams for children (0-18 years) has been identified as a priority and is a 'Key Result Area' in the Executive's National Service Plan 2011. National, regional and local level structures are being put in place to progress this initiative, which will have a positive impact on the provision of clinical services for children with disabilities, including those with autism.