Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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127. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps her Department is taking to increase the numbers of speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists for students with additional needs in primary and secondary schools. [17045/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department 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.

The provision of clinical therapy supports to children is the responsibility of the HSE but as Minister for Education I am also interested to ensure that the broader needs of children are met to ensure that they access the education services provided by my department.

I am aware that my Government colleagues, the Ministers for Health, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science as well the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are all working to ensure increased supply of key clinical specialists including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists as a matter of priority. I am fully supportive of this work as we are all aware of the growing needs of children to access a full range of interventions to allow them achieve their potential.

Within my own remit, I am conscious of this government’s ambition, as outlined in the Programme for Government, to extend therapy supports within the education system over time and initially in special schools. This is not to replace HSE services but rather to complement existing supports recognising that special schools in particular support children with complex needs.

To this end, the Educational Therapy Support Service (ETSS) was established in June 2024 within the NCSE and will comprise of 39 therapists, initially. ETSS therapists will work in schools to build the capacity of teachers and other school staff.

While therapists are required within the Educational Therapy Support Service where the NCSE will be responsible for the recruitment and retention of these roles, the responsibility at national level for workforce planning for professions including therapists remains with the Department of Health.