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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 26 Mar 2002

Vol. 551 No. 2

Written Answers. - Speech Therapy Service.

Deirdre Clune

Question:

308 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will implement the recommendations of the Bacon Report which examined the situation regarding speech and language therapists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10149/02]

In response to my concern regarding severe shortages of qualified therapy personnel, including speech and language therapists, that are seriously affecting the provision of key therapy services nationwide my Department commissioned the report referred to by the Deputy, "Current and Future Supply and Demand Conditions in the Labour Market for Certain Professional Therapists", from Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates.

The Bacon Report which was published in July 2001 concluded that a major expansion is essential in the numbers of speech and language therapists requiring a very significant increase in training places to meet the long-term requirements of the health service. The report, therefore, advocated an annual increase of 75 training places for speech and language therapy in order to achieve the fourfold increase in the number of speech and language therapists over the next decade recommended in the report.

To advance this core recommendation of the report an inter-agency working group has been established comprising representatives of my Department, the Department of Education and Science and the Higher Education Authority. The Higher Education Authority has initiated a formal bidding process between third level educational institutions to respond to the training needs identified in the Bacon Report. The proposals received are currently being assessed by the inter-agency working group with a view to early progress in the provision of the extra training places required.

Progress, to date, in relation to other key recommendations included in the Bacon Report are as follows: the planned establishment of a national network of clinical placement co-ordinators to support the provision of additional clinical placements; concerted overseas recruitment of scarce therapy personnel undertaken on behalf of all the health boards by the Northern Area Health Board; the establishment of the health skills group under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness to support the development of integrated workforce planning and improved human resource planning in the health service; the ongoing implementation of the report of the expert group on various health professions to address outstanding issues including workload, working practices and skills-mix issues highlighted in the Bacon Report; and the preparation of a scheme for the statutory registration for health and social care professionals, consistent with the requirement for a person-centred health service.
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