Frances Fitzgerald
Question:164 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Education and Science his assessment of the availability of speech therapists to school going pupils compared to the estimated level of need. [3155/00]
Written Answers. - Speech Therapy Service.
While responsibility for the provision of speech therapy services to school going pupils is a matter for the relevant health board, such services are an essential part of the support programme required in schools for pupils with specific speech and language disorders.
I am aware that concerns have been expressed by some schools and the parents of some children that the level of speech therapy services currently being provided is not adequate to meet their children's needs. I am also aware that individual health boards have been encountering significant difficulty in recruiting sufficient suitably qualified speech therapists to meet their needs.
My Department has raised this matter with the Department of Health and Children in an effort to determine the precise extent of the problem and how it might be addressed. It is also my intention to liaise with the Minister for Health and Children on this matter in order to ensure that all school going pupils with speech and language disorders have access to an adequate level of speech therapy service.