Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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222. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to urgently examine the transition of the school therapy model from the HSE to the National Council for Special Education and to immediately reinstate therapy services in special schools and provide appropriate clinical governance and support structures (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16405/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The development of the National Therapy Support Service is a standalone commitment in the programme for government and is a cross-department initiative.

While the provision of clinical therapy supports to children is the responsibility of the HSE, it is this government’s ambition, and as outlined in the Programme for Government, to extend therapy supports within the education system, over time.

To this end and in line with the commitment mentioned above, my Department is working with the Department of Health, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and the HSE to develop and strengthen more coherent structures to enable children and young people to access therapeutic supports.

Work in regard to this important service has already been rolled out in some special schools, through enhanced in-school therapy supports pilot. This integrated pilot programme will see the delivery of enhanced in-school therapy supports provided by the HSE’s Children’s Disability Network Teams and will be supported by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The pilot commenced in September 2024, in six schools in the Cork and Dublin. An additional ten schools were announced as part of the pilot on 8th November 2024.

The focus of this pilot is to provide the effective delivery of enhanced in-school therapy supports to children in selected special schools, managed in a coherent and collaborative manner through the relevant stakeholders. This pilot will seek to provide an integrated model of service ensuring that all stakeholders, including special schools staff, children and families have access to high quality integrated therapeutic supports in alignment with supports provided through health and social care services.

The outcomes of this pilot will inform and assist in the development of a National Therapy Service.

In addition, The Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS) was established in June 2024. The expansion of therapy services within the NCSE is expected to build on the achievements and impacts of this element of the School Inclusion Model (SIM) pilot programme, which provided support to 75 schools as part of the pilot.

The ETSS provides 2 strands of support. Strand I involves Regional Therapy Support and includes Teacher Professional Learning (TPL) seminars with in-school support. It is planned that these supports will be available nationally for the 2025/2026 school year. The second strand, Strand II provides Sustained In-School Therapy for a period of 24 months, in line with the School Inclusion Model (SIM).

The NCSE intends to deliver Strand II of the ETSS initially, in its Eastern and Western regions. Dublin is the base for the Eastern region and 22 schools in this region are currently availing of this service. Limerick has been identified as the most suitable hub for the Western region. This includes Kerry, Clare, Limerick, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. It is planned that the Stand II will be available in the Western Region for the 2025/2026 school year.

Regional Therapy Support and Sustained In-School Therapy will be available to all schools in these regions, including special schools, following an application process through the NCSE.

Further recruitment within the NCSE to achieve the full complement of 39 therapists, which is currently ongoing, will assist the NCSE in the delivery and expansion of the services provided above.

The Department of Education and the NCSE are committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential.