Vol. 533 No. 6
267 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Health and Children if children with autism who are on a waiting list for speech and therapy services will be offered funding for private therapy arranged by parents; if his Department will confirm that this arrangement is in place in the Western Health Board and to a limited degree in the South Eastern Health Board area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9856/01]
Arrangements for the provision of health related support services, including speech and language therapy services, are a matter in the first instance for the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the health boards. While significant additional resources have been made available to the health boards in recent years to enhance the level of health related support services available to children with disabilities, including those with autism, the boards and other service providers have been encountering difficulties in both recruiting and retaining the allied health professionals necessary to deliver the various therapy services.
In acknowledgement of these difficulties, my Department has asked the authority and the health boards to explore other possibilities with a view to facilitating as many children as possible to access the necessary support services. This might include the purchase of additional sessions which may result in either the maintenance of the existing levels of service provision or an enhancement in line with agreed service developments, using the resources which have been allocated for these services. It is a matter however for each health board and the Eastern Regional Health Authority to determine what additional measures the services in their region might undertake to facilitate this access. I have asked the two boards mentioned by the Deputy for details of the measures which they have taken, and will forward this information to the Deputy as soon as I receive it.
My Department has also engaged Dr Peter Bacon and Associates to undertake a workforce planning study to report on the prospective supply and demand for a number of therapy grades, including speech and language therapists, and I am expecting their final report shortly.
Another measure which has been taken to assist parents in this area is Section 8 of the Finance Act, 2001, which amends Section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, to extend tax relief for medical expenses to cover the cost of educational psychological assessments and speech and language therapy services for children.
