Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2015
640. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the costs of introducing speech language therapy on-site in primary schools for children with assessed special needs, which would involve the transfer of approximately 350 public speech and language therapists for children, from the employment of the Health Service Executive to his Department. [37874/15]
View answer700. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Health the way in which speech and language therapy services will be improved in future years, in order that children requiring these services, will be offered something more meaningful than six lessons in one year, as is currently being offered, when six lessons in one month would be more in keeping with what might be of tangible benefit to the child [37588/15]
View answer741. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Health the way speech and language therapy services will be improved in the coming years, so that children needing these services will be offered something more meaningful than six lessons in one year, as is currently being offered, when six lessons in one month would be more in keeping with what might be of tangible benefit to the child [37801/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 640, 700 and 741 together.
Health related therapy supports and interventions for children, such as speech and language therapy, can be accessed through both the Health Service Executive’s primary care services and its disability services, depending on the level of need. It is estimated that up to 95% of people’s health and social service needs can be met within a primary care setting.
Significant additional resources have been invested over the past number of years in the State’s primary care and disability services with a view to enhancing therapy service provision. For example, additional funding of €20 million was allocated in 2013 to strengthen primary care services and to support the recruitment of prioritised front-line posts. As part of this initiative, the HSE commenced the recruitment of over 260 additional posts for Primary Care Teams. This included 52 speech and language therapist posts, all of which have now been filled. In addition, the HSE has introduced a number of initiatives specifically in relation to speech and language therapy services that are aimed at improving access to these services, such as therapists increasing clinic based work and providing family centred interventions in a group, as opposed to a one-to-one setting, whenever possible.
The HSE is also currently engaged in a major reconfiguration of its existing therapy resources for children with disabilities into multi-disciplinary geographically based teams, as part of its National Programme on Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People (0-18 years). The key objective of this Programme is to bring about equity of access to disability services and consistency of service delivery, with a clear pathway for children with disabilities and their families to services, regardless of where they live, what school they go to or the nature of the individual child’s difficulties.
An additional €4 million was allocated in 2014 to assist in implementing the Progressing Disability Services Programme, equating to approximately 80 additional therapy posts, including speech and language therapist posts. Further investment of €4 million (equating to €6 million in a full year) has been provided this year to support its ongoing implementation.
Improving access to therapy services for children in primary care and in disability services is a particular priority for the Government. Within this context, funding is being provided in 2016 to expand the provision of speech and language therapy in primary care and to support the reorganisation and expansion of speech and language and other therapies under the Progressing Disability Services Programme. Full implementation of the Programme is expected before the end of 2016.
The HSE has convened a dedicated Group to examine its current speech and language therapy service provision with a view to enhancing its model of service delivery into the future, based on international best evidence. This Group is expected to conclude its work in 2016. The focus of its deliberations will be on ensuring that each child receives the type of speech and language treatment most appropriate to its individual needs. It should be noted, in this context, that not all children with speech and language impairment require individual clinical treatment sessions; significant outcomes can be achieved by therapists educating parents, families and teachers in how best to support children in learning to speak within their home, pre-school or school environment.
While close intersectoral collaboration is important the provision of health related therapy supports and interventions such as speech and language therapy is and should remain the responsibility of the health sector. Therefore the transfer of speech and language therapists employed by the HSE to the Department of Education and Skills as suggested by the Deputy does not arise.
