Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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907. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department will consult with the HSE to reverse any proposals removing 35 hours of frontline speech and language therapy services at CDNT 3 in south Mayo; if her Department will work with the HSE to deliver additional clinical staff to reduce long waiting lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62951/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Government recognises the importance of early intervention for children with disabilities. The Programme for Government commits to ensuring that children and their families who need early intervention and therapy input can access that support in a timely way.

Government has made funding available in 2025 to build on existing recruitment initiatives for children’s disability services, focusing on various positions across Children’s Disability Network Teams.

A further €8 million has been secured in Budget 2026 to allow for the recruitment of 150 staff to Children’s Disability Network Teams. Funding will build on progress made in recent years to reduce Children’s Disability Network Team waiting lists.

It is important to highlight that the deployment of these increased resourced across all Children’s Disability Network Teams is an operational matter for the HSE and its lead agencies on a needs driven basis. The Department understands that the geographic allocation of these posts is under consideration by the HSE.

More broadly , the Programme for Government commits to doubling the number of college places for speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, psychologists and social workers.

In June 2025, the Government approved an expansion in training places which will provide up to 461 additional student places by 2028, with the majority commencing in 2025.

Building a skilled pipeline of professionals for Children’s Disability Network Teams involves active and sustained engagement with the employment market and with students, to improve the perception of and interest in working in these teams.

The HSE are continuing to drive intensive domestic and international recruitment efforts and to undertake a portfolio of workforce initiatives to support sustained growth of Children’s Disability Network Teams and the wider disability service.

Alongside recruitment drives, new roles and training pathways are being developed to expand the skills mix and strengthen applicant pools. This includes the development of the role of Health and Social Care Assistant (Therapy Assistant) in 2024.

A dedicated Disability Workforce Strategy will be developed by the HSE in 2026, to meet growing service demands and address recruitment and retention challenges across specialist disability services, including Children’s Disability Network Teams.

While challenges remain, progress has been made in recruitment over recent years, with the overall Children’s Disability Network Teams vacancy rate falling by 11% nationally.

In 2025, the Children’s Disability Network Teams provide supports and services to almost 45,000 children with complex needs. This is an increase of some 2,000 children in receipt of services at the end of December 2024.

Despite increasing pressures on waiting lists across the country, the number of children on Children’s Disability Network Team waiting lists has fallen from nearly 13,000 in January to 10,099 at the end of September, a reduction of 18%.

Notwithstanding the current challenges, both the Government, this Department, the HSE and its funded agencies remain committed to the delivery of appropriate services for children with disabilities and their families and to continue advancing services that meet their needs.

As this question is service query, I have referred it to to the HSE for direct reply.