Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 16 Nov 2000

Vol. 526 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Speech and Language Therapy Service.

Mr. Finucane:

Courtenay boys school has about 200 children with a speech and language therapy class of seven children and the special school has 30 children. The special school caters for children from west Limerick from a distance of up to 20 miles. These children range in age from five to 13 and have a wide range of disabilities, including autism and Down's syndrome. The special school had a speech and language therapist for one day a week until last Easter. The speech and language therapist was promoted to the speech and language therapy post for the speech and language class and now the special school is deprived of its speech and language therapist.

The school principal has applied for an increase in the service given that she felt one day a week did not address the individual and group needs of the children, some of whom need an intensive approach. There is now no session for these children who urgently need speech and language therapy. The parents and teachers of the school are anxious that the speech and language therapy service be resumed immediately.

The Mid-Western Health Board has been unsuccessful in recruiting a therapist. The board has advertised but so far has been unsuccessful. A small number of therapists graduate each year from Trinity College. Some go on to further study in clinical training before joining the workforce. Surely the chronic shortage of speech and language therapists is recognised. It should be possible to advertise vacant positions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada as an interim measure, and increase the number of places for speech and language therapists until such time as we increase the number of speech and language therapy students at Trinity College.

I hope the Minister will give a positive response and not excuses in his reply. In this time of economic buoyancy it is immoral to deprive the children who urgently need a speech and language therapy service.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. D. Wallace):

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to respond on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Martin.

As the Deputy is aware, the provision of speech and language therapy services in the Limerick area is the responsibility of the Mid-Western Health Board in the first instance. With regard to the matter raised by the Deputy, the Mid-Western Health Board was providing two sessions per week to support the special classes in the school in question up to last May. At that time the speech and language therapy post became vacant and the board has to date been unsuccessful in filling it, despite two separate advertising campaigns.

The Deputy will be aware that all health boards are facing considerable difficulties in recruiting and retaining the necessary multidisciplinary staff, including speech and language therapists, required to provide health related support services to school going children with special needs. The Department of Health and Children has requested health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority to adopt a flexible approach to the delivery of these services and to examine all possibilities in this area to ensure that as many children as possible have access to the necessary support services.

The Minister for Health and Children has asked me to assure the Deputy that the Mid-Western Health Board will continue to explore all possible means to increase the overall provision of services and in particular to the school in question. He has asked the board to keep him informed of any progress in this matter.

In relation to the broader issue of the recruitment and retention of staff, the Minister wishes to assure the Deputy that his Department is pursuing a number of initiatives to address the difficulties faced by the health services. Earlier this year he received the final report of the expert group on health professionals. Part of this group's remit was to deal with recruitment and retention issues. It is hoped that its recommendations in these areas will help alleviate some of the current difficulties.

The report recommends that action be taken in relation to manpower planning. A manpower planning study for the therapy professions has been undertaken and is being progressed as a matter of urgency. Following discussions with the Department of Education and Science and the Higher Education Authority, significant progress has been made recently in relation to increasing the number of training places for allied health professionals. An additional 52 places for physiotherapy, three for speech and language therapy, five for occupational therapy and 20 for psychology came on stream last month.

The Higher Education Authority is also establishing a group comprising representatives from each of the three physiotherapy schools to investigate the establishment of a fast track physiotherapy programme to begin in each school from October 2001. A similar exercise can also be undertaken for speech and language and occupational therapy. At least a further 19 psychology places will be available from October 2001 and a service review of psychology services is currently under way in the health boards.

The Department of Health and Children has also been liaising with other Government Departments, the health boards and the Federation of Voluntary Bodies Providing Services to Persons with Mental Handicap to ensure that every opportunity is taken to highlight the career opportunities available in this sector and to maximise the results achieved by the various recruit ment processes which are undertaken by the services.