Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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47. To ask the Minister for Health the steps being taken by the Health Service Executive and his Department to ensure that children in counties Laois and Offaly who may be autistic will receive an early diagnosis and assessment; if he will provide a timeframe in which this will take place; and the likely waiting times for occupational therapy and speech and language therapy for children who are assessed as being autistic. [20585/15]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The HSE is currently engaged in a major reconfiguration of existing therapy resources for children with disabilities, including those with autism, into multi-disciplinary geographically based teams. The key objective of the Progressing Disabilities Programme is to bring about equity of access to disability services and consistency of service delivery across the country. This involves the creation of a clear pathway to services for children with disabilities, regardless of where they live, what school they go to or the nature of the individual child's difficulties.

A number of HSE Community Healthcare Organisations across the country are successfully implementing the programme which requires significant preparatory work in engaging with families, schools, voluntary providers and local communities and the development of new procedures and protocols in respect of multidisciplinary and multiagency working. Once this preparatory work has been completed additional posts are being provided to support the implementation of the new model of service.

In the Laois/Offaly area considerable work has been done to put in place the required governance structure which will allow for additional posts to be provided in 2015. A total of 120 new therapy posts will be provided across the country from an additional €4 million allocated this year (equating to €6 million in a full year). The HSE is currently finalising details of the allocation of additional therapy posts and it has informed me that Laois/Offaly will be prioritised.

The allocation of additional resources to Laois/Offaly to support the implementation of the Progressing Disabilities Programme will help address waiting times under the statutory Assessment of Need in the area. Research done by the National Disability Authority has demonstrated that where the Progressing Disabilities Programme has been successively implemented it has had a very positive impact on reducing waiting times for the Assessment of Need.

In addition the HSE is planning a waiting list initiative in Laois/Offaly shortly utilising spare capacity across public, voluntary and private providers to seek to reduce waiting times for the assessment and treatment of children pending the allocation and filling of the additional posts.