Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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469. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the hardship caused by the reduction of preschool assistant support hours to children with disabilities, compounded by the staff moratorium which is preventing the recruitment of temporary staff for speech therapy purposes; if he will state whether discretion can be exercised; if so, who holds the authority in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33063/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Government is fully committed to protecting front-line services, including services for children with disabilities, to the greatest extent possible, notwithstanding the financial constraints which the health sector must operate within. Significant resources have been invested by the health sector in recent years in services for children with disabilities. In particular, there is now an increased awareness of the importance of early intervention for these children in terms of ensuring they get the best start in life and are supported as much as possible to reach their full potential.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Health Service Executive has operational responsibility for the provision of health and personal social services, including disability services for children. Within this context, it has a responsibility to ensure that the health-related needs of children with special needs are addressed and that these children are appropriately supported in preschool and school settings. This is done in a number of ways such as by providing grant-aid to support preschool provision in community preschools and by funding special preschools that cater specifically for children with disabilities. It also facilitates children with special needs to attend mainstream preschool by providing the necessary assistant supports. The HSE's role in supporting children with special needs involves it working in close co-operation with the disability service providers that it funds, with the education sector and with the parents and families of the children in question.

All service developments have to be addressed in the light of the current economic and budgetary pressures, and Government policy to reduce the numbers employed in the public sector. This policy requires that by the end of 2013, the health service achieves a workforce of 98,955 whole-time equivalents. Staff appointments may be made only where an inescapable service need has been identified and which cannot be addressed by other means, such as the redeployment of staff or reorganisation of services. The recently concluded Haddington Road Agreement has increased the working week of staff employed in the public sector. This will have the effect of increasing the overall staff capacity available to management to deploy in service delivery. My Department has asked the HSE to look at the specific case referred to by the Deputy and to respond to him directly on the matter.